Nevada parole, probation officers could change agencies
CARSON CITY – Nevada parole and probation officers may be transferred to a different state agency.
Assembly Bill 302 would move the Division of Probation and Parole from the Nevada Department of Public Safety to the Nevada Department of Corrections.
Supporters say the measure will provide more continuity between offenders and the officials who recommend whether they go to prison. Opponents say the move is unnecessary.
Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, said the Division of Parole and Probation makes decisions that impact the corrections system without any accountability.
“This is not a partisan issue,” he told lawmakers Thursday in the Assembly Corrections, Parole and Probation Committee. “This is not even a criminal justice issue. I am not proposing that we dictate whether or not someone gets sent to prison or let out of prison.”
Frierson said Nevada is one of only three states nationally that hasn’t made similar changes yet.
“I believe it’s time for us to operate like the big-boy state we are,” he said.
He said the move would help spark cultural changes, noting that criminal defendants are told they’re getting probation and the person they report to is wearing a “law enforcement shirt with a badge and a gun.”
Parole and probation officers, regardless of whatever department they end up in, will remain sworn peace officers. Officially, the Nevada Department of Public Safety is neutral on the bill, Director James Wright said.
But Wright cautioned lawmakers that a move would be challenging and his officers are doing a fine job with new initiatives.
“You would lose so much ground,” he told lawmakers.
No one from the Nevada Department of Corrections testified about the bill.
Current and former parole and probation officers opposed the bill, saying the change would accomplish nothing.
Rick McCann, a lobbyist for the Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers, said he’s received “virtually unanimous input” from parole and probation officers who are against the bill.
“It’s not a system that’s broken,” he said.
The committee did not take action on the bill.
Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @BenBotkin1 on Twitter.
