Panel appointed to improve Clark County’s troubled guardianship system
The Nevada Supreme Court named 23 people Friday to a panel aimed at reforming and improving the state’s guardianship system, according to a Friday news release.
Longstanding problems with the system that handles about 8,500 adult guardianship cases in Clark County each year were exposed in a series of Review-Journal articles published in April. Cases highlighted by the newspaper showed a lack of oversight by the courts, such as failing to require guardians to file annual accounts of a ward’s finances even though it is required by state law.
Supreme Court Chief Justice James Hardesty petitioned to form the panel last month. The panel will listen to public testimony and make recommendations about the system.
The panel will include several judges from across the state, including: Hardesty; Nevada Court of Appeals Chief Judge Michael Gibbons; Washoe County district court judges Frances Doherty and Egan Walker; Clark County district court judges Cynthia Dianne Steel and William Voy; and Elko district court judge Nancy Porter.
Two deputy district attorneys — Jay Raman from Clark County and Timothy Sutton from Nye County — and three legislators — Assemblymen Michael Sprinkle and Glenn Trowbridge and Sen. Becky Harris — were also named to the panel.
Others named to the panel include: Trudy Andrews of Pacifica Senior Living; Deborah Bookout of Legal Aid of Southern Nevada; Rana Goodman of The Vegas Voice; Terri Russell of Reno’s KOLO-TV, Channel 8; Kim Spoon of Guardianship Services of Nevada, Inc.; Susan Sweikert, a victim’s advocate; Julie Arnold of Southern Nevada Senior Law Program; Clark County Public Guardian Kathleen Buchanan; Susan Hoy of National Guardian Services, LLC; Reno attorney Kim Rowe of Maupin, Cox, and Legoy; David Spitzer of Washoe Legal Services; and Las Vegas attorney Elyse Tyrell.
The first meeting of the panel will be held in mid-July, the release said.
Contact reporter Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Find him on Twitter: @ColtonLochhead.
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