Nye County has postponed the hearing on a bill to abolish the elected public administrator’s office.

Nye County is currently considering whether to abolish the elected Nye County Public Administrator’s Office and instead, have that position be held by a county-appointed, contracted individual. A public hearing on Nye County Bill No. 2026-04 was held on Tuesday, June 2 but rather than reaching a decision, the Nye County Commission opted to continue the hearing and a final say is now expected in July.

The public administrator is charged with administering the estates of Nye County residents who have passed away and do not have a legal heir to do so, or those of the deceased whose heirs do not want to administer the estate themselves. In Nevada, 11 counties have elected public administrators and six have ex officio appointees. In Nye County, the position and office are not county-funded but self-funded, with Nevada law providing statutory estate fees for the handling of probate cases.

The bill to abolish the elected office came as a result of complaints commission chair Ron Boskovich said he had received about the office and the lack of a requested audit of its activities. He emphasized repeatedly that he had nothing against the current public administrator, Ginger Simpson, but he feels the office needs more transparency and oversight.

But it was the timing of the June 2 meeting, coming just days before the primary election, that held the focus for many area residents. With just one week until that election, the public hearing elicited an explosion of allegations of voter disenfranchisement as residents demanded to have their votes in this year’s public administrator’s race count.

It wasn’t just the public, either. Commissioner Bruce Jabbour said he, too, believed the timing was inappropriate, remarking, “This is borderline election interference, as far as I’m concerned.”

Over the course of more than two hours, commissioners listened to public speakers and debated among themselves, striving to find a path forward but it was not simple. The general order of the meeting broke down twice as officials and residents argued over the matter.

As for Simpson, she said the item felt as if it was politically motivated and then proceeded to address the complaints that Boskovich had noted. She asserted that her office does, in fact, use body cameras when they enter any decedent’s property and deputies with the Nye County Sheriff’s Office are on site, unless they must respond to a call. She also submits regular reports to the county and has had no county official or member of the public come to her office to review any cases, either.

Rusty Graf, an attorney representing Simpson, entered a letter into the record as well, asserting his legal opinions on why the bill should not go forward. These include the effective date, which would strip Simpson of her position prior to the end of her current term, as well as potential cost to the county to run the office and the lack of a business impact or financial impact statement.

Boskovich responded that it was not his intention to remove Simpson from her current elected term and the effective date could be changed to Dec. 31 to accommodate that. On the financial side, Boskovich said the appointee would not be an employee of the county but a contractor and the office would continue to run as it does now, self-funded. He also asserted that he would be happy to select whomever wins this year’s race as the new, county-appointed public administrator for a term of four years, the same term length as the elected position.

“I just want the oversight,” he reiterated.

With so much pushback, however, Boskovich then suggested continuing the public hearing until the second meeting in July, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 21. The meeting can be attended in person in Pahrump at 2100 E. Walt Williams Drive, in Tonopah at 101 Radar Road and via teleconference.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com