Former DA Kunzi lands spot with state bar

Former Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi has landed a position with the State Bar of Nevada.

Kunzi, who lost his re-election bid on Nov. 4 , will start later this month as deputy bar counsel, a newly created position.

“It’s a new position that was created where I will be supervising discipline cases brought against attorneys,” he said. “Basically, it’s prosecuting the attorneys for misconduct and the whole process that they go through. I’ll be supervising attorneys that handle those cases. It’s a great newly created position that I’m looking forward to.”

Kunzi noted that because the position is brand new, he’ll be tasked with creating the overall structure of the new office. He said that it’s quite similar to any police agency’s Internal Affairs office where police hold fellow officers accountable in instances of perceived wrongdoing.

Kunzi said if someone feels an attorney has done something unethical, they can file a complaint with the bar, which then investigates the claim for validity.

“It will be nice to kind of be in the system of policing attorneys and protecting the public from those attorneys who are not following the rules,” Kunzi said. “The bar then investigates it and if there’s enough evidence, they file a formal complaint that then goes before a disciplinary committee that then determines what discipline is appropriate and then there’s an appeal to the Supreme Court who has the authority to determine what discipline is handed down to the attorney and I’ll be in that process at the very beginning overseeing the investigations and the filing of charges and prosecution of the cases.”

Though the position requires the former district attorney to commute to Las Vegas, he said he and his family will remain firmly rooted in Nye County.

“We have no interest in leaving Pahrump,” he said. “I truly have no desire to stop any of the local activities and groups I’m involved with. I’ve been involved with those groups for a long time and it had nothing to do with me being district attorney. We will certainly still be here.”

When asked about his unsuccessful re-election bid, Kunzi struck a pragmatic tone.

“It happened throughout the state,” he noted. “Congressman Horsford lost in what is a dominant democratic district, which obviously encompasses a lot of Nye County but that’s how politics works. It’s a sad reality but you have to accept that.”

Additionally, Kunzi said he’s concerned that whenever heated partisan politics finds its way to the local level, it can become problematic.

“I understand it on a national level, but when you start applying partisan politics on a national level on local positions it becomes troubling. Can you honestly tell me there’s a difference between a republican clerk and a democratic clerk or a republican treasurer and a democratic treasurer? I wish people would look beyond the party lines, but unfortunately that is the reality of American politics today.”

Kunzi has been a litigator for more than 30 years, 20 of which have been spent as a prosecutor.

He was raised in a military town in west central Nevada and followed his military roots to serve on active duty in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and also as an active reserve.

He and his wife of more than 30 years raised their four children in rural Nevada, all of whom have since graduated from Pahrump Valley High School.

Kunzi regularly volunteers his time by working with several local organizations in the community.