NRS 180.400 Creation; Executive Director; employment and contracts for consultants.

326 words·~1 min read·/nv/chapter-180-indigent-defense-services/180-400

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1. The Department of Indigent Defense Services is hereby created.

2. The Governor shall appoint the Executive Director of the Department from a list of three persons recommended by the Board. The Executive Director serves a term of 4 years, and until a successor is appointed and qualified. The Executive Director may be reappointed.

3. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, the Executive Director:

(a)Is in the unclassified service of this State;

(b)Serves at the pleasure of the Board, except that the Executive Director may only be removed for good cause;

(c)Must be a member of the State Bar of Nevada in good standing or otherwise authorized to practice law in the State of Nevada pursuant to the rules of the Supreme Court; and

(d)Must devote his or her entire time to his or her duties and shall not engage in any other gainful employment or occupation.

4. The Executive Director may, within the limits of money available for this purpose, employ or enter into a contract for the services of such employees or consultants as is necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

5. In extraordinary circumstances, the Governor may remove the Executive Director upon a finding that the Executive Director:

(a)Engaged in criminal conduct, whether or not the conduct occurred in office; or

(b)Committed an act that constitutes malfeasance or nonfeasance in office. For the purposes of this paragraph, an otherwise lawful action taken within the scope of the statutory authority of the Executive Director does not constitute malfeasance or nonfeasance.

Ê The Legislature declares that the purpose of this subsection is to uphold the public policy that an indigent defense system must be independent in order to provide constitutionally adequate representation, as recognized by the “Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System,” as published by the American Bar Association on November 9, 2023.