Nye Count’s new DA to start job Nov. 22

Citing the "chaos" left by his predecessor, newly elected Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi has agreed to start work early.

Kunzi, who was elected last week to replace troubled former District Attorney Bob Beckett, will begin work on Nov. 22, six weeks before his four-year term officially begins.

The Nye County Commission made it official on Tuesday.

"There's been so much chaos in that office. It's like anything; if you don't address a problem it can only get worse," Kunzi said.

Beckett resigned from office on Nov. 1 as part of a plea agreement that also sent him into alcohol counseling. Since June 2008, the four-term district attorney was arrested three times, including twice on drunken driving charges.

Kunzi previously said he would not be able to leave his current job as head of the insurance fraud unit for the Nevada attorney general's office before the end of the year.

Since then, he said he spoke to Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, and they agreed that his new post needed more immediate attention. "Another two months of not really having any final decision-maker there, things could get even worse," he said.

The county's current chief deputy prosecutor, Kirk Vitto, will serve as the interim district attorney until Kunzi starts work.

One longtime public defender in Nye County can't wait for the change in administration.

Harry Kuehn said the district attorney's office desperately needs a "sober, responsible person" at the helm to restore the communication and "collegiality" needed to reduce the county's growing backlog of cases.

"It's been the most goofy 16 years you can imagine," Kuehn said of Beckett's tenure.

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.