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Committee advances bill to move Nevada emergency management from military office to governor’s office
Summary
AB 553 would transfer the Division of Emergency Management from the Office of the Military to the Office of the Governor, renaming it the Office of Emergency Management and aligning Nevada with practices endorsed by national emergency management organizations.
CARSON CITY — The Senate Committee on Government Affairs voted to pass Assembly Bill 553, which would move Nevada’s Division of Emergency Management out of the Office of the Military and place it under the Office of the Governor as the Office of Emergency Management.
Brett Thompson, administrator for the Division of Emergency Management, said the realignment would provide clearer executive oversight, faster access to the governor and improved cabinet‑level coordination of state resources during emergencies. He told the committee that 36 states currently have their emergency management director appointed directly by the governor and said the change aligns Nevada with recommendations from the National Governors Association and the National Emergency Management Association.
Thompson said the relocation is intended to streamline decision making and information flow during crises, enabling the emergency management director to work as a peer with other cabinet‑level directors rather than as a division subordinate to the Adjutant General. He said the Adjutant General’s primary focus remains federal mission‑driven National Guard duties, and the move reduces a competing chain of command when coordinating statewide emergencies.
Committee members asked how the change would affect the chain of command during incidents, the membership of boards and commissions such as the Nevada Homeland Security Commission and the role of county and local officials. Thompson and Heidi Clarkson of the Legislative Counsel Bureau’s legal division said statutory functions and board membership requirements in existing law would transfer to the new office; Clarkson testified that language in the bill reflects the intended transfer of statutory powers from the Office of the Military to the governor’s office.
There was no public testimony in opposition. The committee voted to do pass AB 553; Senator Krasner made the motion and Vice Chair Orangewell seconded. The motion carried unanimously.
If the bill becomes law, the Division of Emergency Management would be reorganized under the Office of the Governor, with the director reporting directly to the governor’s office and cabinet‑level peers, the bill’s backers say, enabling faster coordination of state assets during disasters.
