State worker rises to archives chief
CARSON CITY -- Longtime state employee Jeff Kintop has been named Nevada's new state archivist.
Kintop, 58, has been the state archives manager since 1991 and worked in university, state history and archives positions since 1979.
He replaces Guy Rocha, who retired in February after 28 years in the position of running the Nevada State Library and Archives.
When his new position becomes effective July 1, Kintop will become the third state archivist since the agency was created in 1965. He will manage a staff of 13 that catalogs and stores records of state and local governments.
"In Nevada, 87 percent of the people were not born here," Kintop said Monday. "They don't know the history. You get a lot of misinformation. It has been fun working with sources to find out what did and did not happen."
Although he replaces Rocha, who became a high-profile official throughout the state, Kintop figured he is up to the task, having worked with the former archivist for 25 years. Kintop said he has gained an extensive knowledge of state politics through the years.
In recent days he and his staff worked with the Legislative Counsel Bureau researchers to determine which governor before Jim Gibbons held the record for vetoes. Gibbons vetoed 48 bills and had 25 overridden by the Legislature.
The archivist and others found the state's first governor, H.G. Blasdel, held the previous record with 33 vetoes, of which 11 were overridden in 1864-65.
The last override of a Blasdel veto was discovered only Thursday.
Because of budget cuts, the state archives office will be open only from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays starting in July. Plans to add an office and staff in Las Vegas were cut.
Early in his career, Kintop co-wrote a book about studying local governments through historical records.
As a parent, Kintop said he has learned that students too often rely on the Internet for information about historical subjects and that information too often is inaccurate.
"You have to find a source other than an Internet site," he said.
Contact reporter Ed Vogel at evogel @reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
