[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6680232,"mediaKeyId","2372593-fda95a10a4e9fa2dba0f2dcb978e2292","parentId",2372593,"title","Attorney General outlines 24 proposed legal and support positions, consolidation of investigators and other budget requests","audioSeconds",8415,"startMs",1525000,"endMs",9940000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2372593-fda95a10a4e9fa2dba0f2dcb978e2292&start=1525&end=9940","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2372593-fda95a10a4e9fa2dba0f2dcb978e2292/thumbnail_1525000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6680232/Nevada/Attorney-General-outlines-24-proposed-legal-and-support-positions-consolidation-of-investigators-and-other-budget-requests","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6680232-8bdaa7e5236a84ab2b011fdc60d549de/orig.mp4?Expires=1776906817&Signature=eFhrk99VPoRuVz3JAMkdy~h-FVREXGlsR8N3DVseUrUwmjVQAS1ueHvXhcRxH4AJyyTnyz4PRa-HByuJ8fH2FLIE0MfvKC2vr5ruREZiQ2PVEQg6SyDUOkdBL914RmHMrdwrJfVoZiMdK0K8T53AXqRJv07RH6cFqn0CaoF5tD6xKT3uMMT5xebowo-njoL9j3BvWqdbWd1ZmAQol-y94gbnE11OHLXsqTfb0fBmbbfUdKnRP-yDEc-F99oOhqvJ7fDlIZJ8vSOOrQDNlNo32oVdDrQHgn3ZBW2tnRwEmjbKSvdNiZIHHfu78icmIZiSYaKzXOss9l1WnLeSqymK~w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Nevada State Legislature","date","2025-02-21T19:39:42.027Z","article","Attorney General Aaron D. Ford and senior staff presented the office’s budget request and staffing priorities to the Assembly Ways and Means and the Senate Finance committees, describing 24 proposed attorney and support positions, a plan to consolidate investigators into a single budget, an upgrade to the office's case management system and other operational requests.

What the office asked for: Ford’s presentation cited recent recoveries and enforcement work and then his senior staff walked lawmakers through detailed requests organized by position and functional need. Chief of staff Teresa Benitez Thompson said the office’s priority was more legal staff rather than new programs: “we did more of analysis of, what's gonna what is the biggest impact, positive impact that we can make for this office and what is that ask? And, we decided that that was really new positions, that we did not need new programs,” she said.

Major position requests and justifications included: six senior deputy attorney general roles aimed at Medicaid work, nuclear practice (Yucca Mountain licensing and litigation), criminal prosecutions tied to the Nevada Department of Corrections caseload, complex litigation, taxation and NDOC client representation; a number of deputy attorney general positions for public and behavioral health (forensic and civil commitments), post‑conviction and other client work; legal researchers and legal secretaries to reduce attorney workloads; two fiscal staff positions (accounting assistant and management analyst) to address accounting and budget management loads; IT staff and a business analyst to support system upgrades and a planned victim notification vendor; and two compliance investigators plus administrative support to operate a patterns‑and‑practice unit formed after 2021 legislation.

On a cost basis, Jessica Hoban, chief financial officer, told the committees the office’s approach includes shifting some previously contracted legal work — specifically nuclear litigation — into an in‑house senior deputy attorney general funded through the Attorney General Cost Allocation Plan. “By adding [a] senior deputy attorney general level position to our office, it does cost less than the current contractor that has communicated that they would no longer be performing these services,” Hoban said.

Investigations consolidation and operations: staff proposed consolidating investigators now spread across six budget accounts into a new investigations budget (proposed account 1034) to improve management, parity, and operational flexibility. The office said the move would be supported by time‑tracking so the AG cost allocation could allocate investigator time across client agencies.

Other notable items:
- Extraditions coordinator (budget 1002): staff described a higher cost trend driven by pandemic‑era transport changes (more airline transports, fewer long multi‑leg vehicle moves) and said they will seek a supplemental appropriation for FY25 to cover invoices; Hoban gave a supplemental request figure of about $1.25 million to cover FY24 stale claims and FY25 projected invoices.
- Grants unit (budget 1040): request to convert a contractor opioid coordinator to a permanent state position and to move certain grant management activities into the AG grants account.
- Tort claims (budget 1348): staff described actuarial and claim‑mix issues and said the governor’s recommendation reduces the account’s reserves; Hoban explained the governor’s approach aims to smooth agency assessments and rely on the statutory contingency process if the fund is exhausted.
- ProLaw and IT: staff requested funding to upgrade the ProLaw case management system and to add an IT technician and business analyst to support system implementation and desktop/network operations.

Legislative questions and staff responses: lawmakers asked for vacancy rates, ratios of legal researchers to attorneys, specifics about caseload spikes from the Nevada Department of Corrections (including recent NDOC homicides and large complex prosecutions), and more detail about the Department of Taxation work and whether agency general counsel would change the AG office’s role. Staff promised follow‑up data on vacancy trends, the number of guardianship filings and case counts, and more granular justification for some position requests.

Dignitary protection request: near the end of the hearing staff said the office will separately request consideration of a new dignitary protection unit for the attorney general — a supplemental proposal the office described as six positions (five investigators and one supervisor) plus two vehicles — and asked lawmakers to permit follow‑up briefings. The office said it was studying other state models and would provide detailed costs and operational plans to members.

Ending: staff said the position requests are designed to address workload growth across many divisions, to reduce reliance on outside counsel for niche practice areas and to modernize case and grant systems. Committee members asked for additional documentation and follow‑up on several items, including updated extradition projections, vacancy reports, caseload detail, and cost allocation timing.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","2/21/2025 - Joint Meeting of the Assembly Ways and Means and Senate Finance","oneSentenceSummary","Attorney General Aaron D. Ford and senior staff requested dozens of new positions and operational funds in a detailed budget presentation to the Assembly Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees, saying increases in caseloads, federal grants and complex litigation require more in‑house legal and support capacity.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature NV, Nevada","taxId",78440,"location","Nevada","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6680236,"Nevada agency warns Yucca Mountain licensing would pose long-term groundwater, transport and cost risks",792,138000,930000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2372593-fda95a10a4e9fa2dba0f2dcb978e2292&start=138&end=930","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2372593-fda95a10a4e9fa2dba0f2dcb978e2292/thumbnail_138000.jpg","/articles/6680236/Nevada/Nevada-agency-warns-Yucca-Mountain-licensing-would-pose-long-term-groundwater-transport-and-cost-risks","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6680236-10439042338e22bef94d518d302878cb/orig.mp4?Expires=1776906817&Signature=IqpHVudqQiAYqb~A2f-ESi6DkbsE-VpvGZFJUujMMiu5dqwuX1XHyvEy-GygwK9JslPGID~1qE6gE4DbkcKD4DsNo05p5~jZtrzxAL4NUrAqljO7TdIo41talXt3gDrvqIh4fkodOBeBO-cKIT1BK20ovZsfMSGXvHGufYOYL5NGry~F508YHNg0mxgeGWrvFeDkoku-O7fZvhVTQeyKF6ksAlx1mimygvJdqrRCcUESmLJ~eYy4e2xrBB6hFymZzSpluqwzX5wsfc4-M5eaYKywcb5OBT5t-MJBo79eKHwaSAyAMHSIB7hXVsTtow0~~MIuknWPbHary5h5zOQIyw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Fred Dilger, executive director of the Agency for Nuclear Projects, told the joint Assembly Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees that the federal licensing effort for a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain is legally active but technically and financially problematic. Dilger said the Department of Energy's 2008 license application envisions moving tens of thousands of metric tons of high‑level waste and that the agency expects a decade‑long licensing process if it is funded.

Dilger said the DOE's 2008 license application and final supplemental environmental impact statement propose disposing of about 70,000 metric tons of high‑level waste and that DOE had previously described different site sizing plans. He told lawmakers the license envisions “between 17,000 waste shipments” over the first 50 years and up to 26,000 waste packages moved into underground drifts over a century. “The estimated total cost to construct the repository is $200,000,000,000 in current year dollars, including $8,000,000,000 already spent,” he said.

Why it matters: the agency told lawmakers the geology and hydrology at Yucca Mountain would leave the design dependent on engineered barriers rather than rock to protect groundwater, that transportation routes could expose Nevada communities to routine and accident‑related radiological hazards, and that permitting and defending a license would be expensive. Dilger said Nevada will continue working with the governor's office, the congressional delegation and the attorney general's office to oppose funding for the project.

Key technical and risk claims made by the agency head included assertions that fractured rock and oxidizing groundwater would allow radioactive material to reach the water table that flows toward Amargosa Valley, that the DOE design relies on titanium “drip shields” as engineered barriers rather than geologic isolation, and that the drip shields would require robotic installation because of radiation and heat. “Without these drip shields properly installed and functioning perfectly, the repository does not work,” Dilger said.

Dilger also outlined logistics and transport risks. He said many nuclear plants are not connected by rail, requiring new spurs at “billions of dollars” of construction, and he described potential shipment volumes and routes that, he said, could concentrate shipments through Las Vegas. He warned of routine exposures to workers and the public plus the possibility of releases following severe accidents or deliberate attacks, and he cited national studies and agency models to note potential cleanup and economic‑loss estimates.

Lawmakers pressed Dilger about specific points, including whether railroads would accept the shipments, how railcar design would affect safety and how Nevada could respond. Dilger told the committees that railroads had litigated to avoid carrying nuclear materials but that DOE has developed railcars being tested for compliance with railroad standards; he said those railcars are designed to operate as dedicated trains rather than mixed freight.

Dilger said the state has been preparing for the licensing process — if NRC and DOE funding resumes — including readiness to litigate dozens of licensing contentions and to submit new contentions. He characterized the long‑term process as likely to cost federal agencies and to require sustained Nevada defense efforts.

Ending: Dilger concluded by saying Nevada has sustained a long campaign opposing Yucca Mountain and that state officials will continue to press Congress and federal agencies to “fix this problem” rather than site a repository at Yucca Mountain. He then took questions from committee members.

","The Agency for Nuclear Projects told a joint legislative budget committee that the Yucca Mountain licensing effort before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission would be costly, lengthy and technically flawed, raising groundwater, transportation and community-impact concerns for Nevada.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Attorney General outlines 24 proposed legal and support positions, consolidation of investigators and other budget requests

Nevada agency warns Yucca Mountain licensing would pose long-term groundwater, transport and cost risks