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Boulder City attorney warns Nevada Supreme Court ruling limits who can lead police employment investigations
Summary
Brittany Walker, city attorney for Boulder City, told the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs that a Nevada Supreme Court decision this year interpreted NRS chapter 289 to restrict who may lead employment-related investigations of peace officers, raising procedural problems for small departments.
Brittany Walker, city attorney for Boulder City, told the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs during public comment that a Nevada Supreme Court decision issued in January interpreted NRS chapter 289 in a way that limits which individuals may lead investigations of peace officers.
Walker said the court held that "only a ranking Peace Officer can lead an employment related investigation against another Peace Officer," and that the opinion described the investigation as an "internal investigation." She said the city did not become aware of the decision until after the deadline for bill draft requests and that the ruling is "extremely problematic," especially for small departments.
Boulder City, Walker said, has about 40 officers and routinely uses human resources staff or outside law firms to investigate employment complaints such as allegations of harassment, discrimination or retaliation. "If the city police department was the only agency that can investigate allegations of harassment or discrimination, there would be no way to avoid even the perception of bias compromising the integrity of the process," Walker told the committee.
She urged the Legislature to consider clarifying the statute so that small agencies can continue to use HR professionals or independent investigators to preserve impartiality and access employment-law expertise. "We're not opposed to police peace officers having all of the protections of NRS 289 even in an employment complaint context. We simply want to be able to use HR or a third party law firm to complete the investigation to preserve the integrity of the results and have the expertise necessary to properly evaluate the merits of the complaint," Walker said.
Walker also noted the practical difficulty posed when the investigation subject is an executive-level officer such as a police chief or deputy chief: "The bigger question we have right now is who would investigate an executive level peace officer like police chief? Their subordinates?" she asked.
No bill amendment or committee action followed during the public-comment period; Walker said she would submit the comment in writing and asked the Legislature to consider remedial language.
