Nevada Agriculture Department asks for permanent IT technician and funds to implement language-access plan

The Nevada Department of Agriculture asked the General Government Subcommittee on Tuesday to make permanent one information-technology position and to allow spending for a soon-to-be-hired language-access coordinator.

Kathy Balkan, administrator of the Administrative Services Division at the Nevada Department of Agriculture, told the committee the department has converted a long-standing contracted IT role to a proposed permanent IT 4 position to support new infrastructure and security projects across agency offices and warehouses. "We have...installation of Wi Fi through our different offices," Balkan said, adding the position would handle day-to-day help-desk duties so senior staff can focus on projects such as single sign-on replacement and real-time alarm monitoring for refrigerated storage.

The request to convert the contracted role follows use of outside staffing since early 2023. Balkan told the committee that if the IT 4 position is approved as a state position, the department would not seek a separate contracted backup: "No. If this were to become a full time state position, we would not be requesting a contract position," Director Goicoechea said when asked to confirm the department's intent.

Why it matters: departmental IT work has expanded beyond help-desk requests to include network upgrades at warehouse sites, replacement of wireless access points at headquarters, backup network connections for a rural office and increased attention to information security and grant-data protections. Committee members pressed the department about project backlogs and the effect of vacancies on the unit's ability to complete both routine and security work.

Language access and spending plan: Sierra Russell, who presented on the department's language-access plan, said the agency is recruiting a language-access coordinator and has interviews scheduled immediately. Russell said the department plans to use funds previously allocated by the interim finance committee for cultural-competency training and document-translation services and expects contracting and vendor selection to be completed in time to spend the money before June 30, 2025. "We are currently in the process of hiring a language access coordinator to put that program together and start implementing our plan," Russell said.

Russell and Balkan told the committee the Office of New Americans provided guidance when the department wrote its first language-access plan in 2022 and later alerted the agency to a funding opportunity. Committee members pressed whether additional ongoing costs would be expected beyond the current request; Russell said elements of future costs have been cost-allocated into the department's upcoming budget.

No formal votes were taken during the presentation portion of the hearing. The committee opened and closed discussion on budget account 4554, Administrative Services, during the session.

Details and context: the department reported the governor's recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2026 is $274,164,000 and said total department FTE is 73. Specific FY27 totals in the presentation were not clearly specified in the public record excerpt. The department said roughly 30% of Nevada residents identify as having limited English proficiency per the 2020 U.S. Census and cited a U.S. Department of Labor figure that 62% of farm workers are more comfortable speaking Spanish; the department presented these figures as part of its justification for ongoing language access work.

Looking ahead: if the committee approves the permanent IT position and spending authority, the department plans to reduce reliance on contracted IT labor and proceed with translation and cultural-competency work outlined in its implementation plan.