Attorney General Adam Laxalt is advertising for five top positions key to his reorganization of the office including a newly created General Counsel.
Lawmakers agreed to add four Bureau Chiefs and the General Counsel to make that reorganization happen after Laxalt and top staffers said they had made other reductions which would reduce the total budget by about $500,000. Many of the recommendations were developed in a study done several years ago but not implemented during the recession.
He said once the changes are in place, “I think we’ll start saving the state significant dollars.”
The General Counsel will be assigned to handle all constitutional, statutory and ethical issues in the office as well as public records requests.
Bureau Chiefs will be hired under the plan to manage different work areas within the office. Laxalt testified during hearings on the plan that one goal is to be able to take more cases to court instead of having to settle. “If we get into the business as a state of settling every case, the other side knows they can continue to push us higher and higher and higher,” he told lawmakers. “We need the capacity to take cases to court so plaintiffs know they can’t get every settlement they want.”
The positions include Chiefs of Litigation, Government Affairs, Criminal Justice and Gaming, Business and Industry.
In addition, the office is looking for a Senior Deputy in charge of the Natural Resources Division.
Spokesman Patty Cafferata said the office has opened those posts not only to existing staff who may be qualified to move up but to outside lawyers interested in the jobs.
Laxalt testified during the Legislature the goal is to modernize the office and improve efficiency and effectiveness in providing services.