65°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

Governor names new Nevada Gaming Control Board member

Updated January 30, 2025 - 3:57 pm

A deputy city attorney in Reno has been appointed to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Gov. Joe Lombardo said Wednesday.

Chandeni Sendall, who in 2015 joined the civil division of the city of Reno attorney’s office, will replace Brittnie Watkins, who announced earlier this month that she would not seek reappointment to the full-time three-member board that evaluates and makes recommendations on gaming license applications for consideration by the Nevada Gaming Commission.

Story continues after advertisement

The governor’s office did not disclose Sendall’s salary, but Watkins’ 2025 financial disclosure form listed an annual salary of $196,790.

The Control Board meets monthly, mostly in Las Vegas, but occasionally in Carson City.

“With her unique background in law and compliance, Chandeni will bring fresh insight and critical perspective to the board,” Lombardo said in an emailed statement. “I look forward to her leadership and contributions to gaming oversight in our state.”

Sendall will begin her four-year term this week. Watkins announced at the Jan. 15 Control Board meeting that she would not seek reappointment after serving four years on the board, two months as interim chairwoman.

“I’m grateful to Gov. Lombardo for this opportunity to serve the state of Nevada,” Sendall said in an emailed statement. “Along with my legal background, I look forward to applying my educational background in economics and my work experience in the gaming industry as I begin this new role at the Nevada Gaming Control Board.”

Sendall’s history

Since 2015, Sendall has served as a deputy city attorney for the city of Reno, practicing in the civil division. Before her work in the Reno office, Sendall worked in civil and commercial litigation, served as an in-house legal intern for Reno-based Caesars Entertainment Inc., and clerked for retired Justice James Hardesty at the Nevada Supreme Court. While attending the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV, Sendall served as the editor-in-chief of the UNLV Gaming Law Journal. Before her legal career, she served for several years as an internal auditor for Caesars Entertainment.

Story continues after advertisement

According to Sendall’s LinkedIn page, she was born in California, but moved to Nevada, at a young age. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno for undergraduate and graduate studies in economics.

She was also a member of the Nevada Wolf Pack women’s golf team. While in graduate school, she served as a student ambassador, a graduate assistant in the Economics Department, and a volunteer mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern Nevada.

After completing her graduate studies, she began her finance career at Caesars. While working as an internal auditor, she enrolled in the part-time evening program at the Boyd School in Las Vegas. In law school, she interned for the corporate legal department at Caesars, worked as a summer associate at Travelers Insurance, and led the UNLV Gaming Law Journal.

“My position with Caesars’ in-house legal department provided me an opportunity to learn a great deal about the legal issues that surround a major casino corporation,” she said on LinkedIn. “While working at Travelers Insurance I had the opportunity to draft numerous legal pleadings, discovery requests,and attend mediations and depositions.”

Return to Reno

After graduating from law school in 2012, she moved back to Northern Nevada and began a clerkship with Hardesty. During her clerkship, she was exposed to diverse areas of law and was tasked with researching and drafting bench memoranda to assist the justices in deciding cases of first impression and matters of significant public policy importance before the court.

She then spent a year in the litigation department of Lionel Sawyer & Collins where she represented clients in civil and commercial litigation matters. In 2015, she moved to McDonald Carano Wilson LLP and continued a civil litigation practice before moving that same year to the Reno city attorney’s office.

Sendall will join two other legal experts on the Control Board, Chairman Kirk Hendrick, who earlier this week announced his plans to resign from the board at the end of the 2025 legislative session, and retired Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge George Assad.

Story continues after advertisement

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.

MORE STORIES
MOST READ Business
Sponsored By REGUS
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
Exco Sidebar
THE LATEST
MGM Resorts posts record revenue in ‘24

Despite its flat numbers, MGM Resorts International’s CEO said “Las Vegas will continue to grow.”

North Strip pool, beach club reopening soon

A beach club on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip is reopening after a refresh and expansion.