Storey County hires a new deputy district attorney who will start Monday

Storey County will have a new deputy district attorney on Monday when Laura Louise Grant is sworn in at the county justice court.

County manager Pat Whitten said Grant was hired Thursday. She was interviewed by a panel of county officials, including Whitten, District Attorney Harold Swafford, Commissioner Greg "Bum" Hess and Sheriff Jim Miller.

"She is definitely an impressive attorney, and I think she'll make a great addition to the county staff," Whitten said.

Grant, back in western Nevada after losing an election for municipal judge in West Wendover, said she was looking forward to the job.

"I've always enjoyed the work," she said. "It's local and rural and should be enjoyable."

She said she was attracted to law because of her love of the U.S. Constitution.

Grant was admitted to the State Bar of Nevada in 1992 and the federal court in Nevada in 1993.

She graduated with a Juris Doctorate in 1992 from the California Western School of Law, after earning her bachelor's degree in computer science from Southwest University and her associate's degree in chemistry from Butte College.

Grant, has previously been in private practice in Carson City, has also served as a deputy District Attorney in Elko, a Justice of the Peace and a Municipal Court Judge in West Wendover from 2003-07.

She was in private practice from 1992-96, handling criminal defense, family law, personal injury and wills, and served as an occasional public defender in Lyon County.

She said she is not certain about when or if she might move to Storey County because of the uncertainty of the housing market.

"I'm not opposed to it, but right now is not a good time," she said. "That's a decision for later."

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-7351.