Board of Examiners approves emergency hires, salary adjustments, tort settlements and dozens of contracts

The State of Nevada Board of Examiners voted unanimously June 10 to approve a series of personnel contracts, salary-adjustment disbursements, tort-claim payments, leases and multiple state contracts during a hybrid meeting held in Carson City and Las Vegas.

The board approved emergency or former-employee contracts requested by the Department of Education to hire former employee Anne Marie Dixon through Manpower under NRS 333.705(4), and by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, to hire former employee Michael Antoine through Marathon Staffing Group. "This request is from the Department of Education pursuant to NRS 333.705 subsection 4," a board staff member said during the item presentation. Both items were approved by voice vote.

Why it matters: these approvals allow state agencies to quickly re-engage experienced personnel for fiscal and program needs and are authorized under a statute allowing emergency or limited post‑employment contracts.

The board approved a group of 13 requests to allocate and disburse salary-adjustment funds, citing Assembly Bill 522 (2023) as the appropriation source. According to the presenter, items a through i request a total of $9,370,981 for salary increases; items j through m request $32,726 for a continuity-of-service plan. A motion to approve items 6a–6m passed by voice vote.

On tort claims, the board approved three settlements submitted by the Attorney General's Office pursuant to NRS 41.036. The board approved: (1) a $200,000 payment to claimant Dana Downs; (2) a $150,000 payment to claimant Ricky C. Smith; and (3) a $938,500 settlement for claimant Charles Morris, resolving a jury verdict that had been $1,250,000. "Yes. Settle for all claims and also settled two other cases that the plaintiff had, pending as well," Randy (Randall) Gilmore said for the record, describing the Morris settlement and estimated savings compared with the jury verdict.

The board approved four proposed leases and a package of 43 contracts, followed by approval of eight master service agreements. During the discussion of master service agreements a member asked how Gartner contracts are managed; a staff member replied that each department contracting with Gartner manages its own agreements. The board also received an informational report that the clerk of the board approved 67 contracts valued between $10,000 and $99,999 from May 17 through June 10, 2025.

In an informational item from the Governor's Finance Office Budget Division, staff presented reconciled fund-balance figures as of June 12, including: Tort Claim Fund approximately $2,100,000; Statutory Contingency Account approximately $7,500,000; Stale Claims Account approximately $430,000; Emergency Account approximately $430,000; Disaster Relief Account approximately $14,500,000; IFC contingency unrestricted general fund approximately $11,900,000; IFC contingency unrestricted highway fund approximately $1,600,000; IFC contingency restricted general fund approximately $113,800,000; IFC contingency restricted highway fund approximately $18,700,000; and Extradition Coordinator budget account 1002 at $150,000. The presenter indicated these are approximate balances and did not propose action on them.

All motions reported on the record were adopted by voice vote with "aye" and the chair noting the motion passed. The board adjourned after a second public-comment period produced no speakers.

Votes at a glance: the meeting record shows approval by voice vote for the following agenda items — minutes (agenda item 3); emergency/former-employee contracts for Anne Marie Dixon (item 4) and Michael Antoine (item 5); salary-adjustment allocations (item 6, items a–m); tort claim payments to Dana Downs ($200,000; item 7a), Ricky C. Smith ($150,000; item 7b) and Charles Morris ($938,500; item 7c); approval of four leases (item 8); approval of 43 contracts (item 9); approval of eight master service agreements (item 10). The clerk's approvals of 67 contracts were presented as informational (item 11). The budget reconciliation report was informational (item 12).

The board did not take any actions beyond those recorded on the agenda and adjourned following a motion to adjourn.