Stalemate ends over release of child welfare funds

After a five-week stalemate over $1.5 million in child welfare funds, the state Department of Health and Human Services has reversed course and agreed to release the money to the Clark County district attorney's office.

Director Mike Willden had been withholding the money because of a conflict in how the district attorney represented the county's Department of Family Services in child abuse and neglect cases. State law requires the prosecutor to represent the public in those cases, but the legislature's budget bill required the prosecutor to represent only the wishes of the child welfare agency.

Willden initially sided with the legislative intent of the budget bill, but he changed his mind last week to coincide with an attorney general's opinion that said budget bills cannot change state law.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger had been preparing to sue the state over the withheld funding.

"I'm glad we didn't have to file a lawsuit against the state over this issue," he said.

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281