Sheriff Veil pledges to set new tone in Lyon County

YERINGTON - Lyon County Sheriff Allen Veil thought his first day on the job as sheriff was an ideal time to start a new tradition.

"Tradition is very important in law enforcement," he said, before announcing that Joe Sanford would be the new undersheriff. He then promoted a lieutenant, a captain and two sergeants.

He then swore in the officers, and about 15 deputies who were there as a show of support. The deputies took their oaths of office but also to the officer's oath of honor.

Veil said the rest of his department, or 75 percent, will take the oaths today.

He said he plans to set a new tone for the next four years, including increased efficiency and fine-tuning service. "We need to reinstitute the thought of why we are here, and that is the service to the community," he said.

Veil plans to set some goals, the most immediate of which is the budget, which he has to have done by Feb. 1.

He also plans to develop mission and value statements and go over existing policies to see what should be changed.

"Then get out and meet the public as much as possible," he said. "I told command staff I want members of the community to know who all of them are."

Veil was sworn in by Judge Robert Estes, along with Commissioners Larry McPherson and Phyllis Hunewill, who also became the new board's new chairwoman. Commissioner Don Tibbals was chosen vice chairman.

"I'm going to try and make a good impact on the county," McPherson said. "Just do the best job I can."

Hunewill said she was pleased. The eight-year veteran of the board was chairwoman about five years ago. "I didn't know how that was going to go," she said. "I'm looking forward to the next four years."

District Attorney Bob Auer, was also sworn in. He aims to make the office "the most professional public office in Northern Nevada." He appointed his chief deputy Mark Krueger and two new deputy district attorneys.

"Put the right people in the right places," he said.

His next goal was more ambitious, to remove drug traffickers from Lyon County.

"I don't know if I can achieve that," he said. "But everyone has to have a goal."

Auer said he would pursue vigorous prosecution of drug traffickers, with no deals where there is a strong case. He said he will also pursue civil forfeiture of drug traffickers' property. "Their houses, cars, boats, computers, anything they have used in trafficking," he said. "We're coming after everything they own."

Also sworn in were Assessor H. Michael Glass; Clerk/Treasurer Nikki Bryan; Recorder of Deeds Mary Milligan; Justices of the Peace William Rogers, Robert Bennett and Michael Fletcher; and Kay Bennett, of the Silver Springs General Improvement District.