The following are highlights from today’s Washoe County Board of County Commissioners meeting:
1. Washoe County earns “best of” honors: Washoe County employs more than 3,000 individuals across two dozen departments. It has recently earned recognition as a top employer from the Nevada Women’s Fund and the State of Nevada.
Washoe County earned its designation as a Recovery Friendly Workplace by the Foundation for Recovery, a program sponsored by the State of Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. The Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative empowers employers with training, tools, and resources to better address mental health and substance use in the workplace and celebrate a culture of recovery.
Additionally, the Nevada Women’s Fund named Washoe County among the Best Places for Women to Work in Northern Nevada for businesses with 501 and more employees. The award highlights the County’s commitment to creating an inclusive and supportive workplace for women across departments and service areas.
“I come to you today to celebrate this momentous occasion, one of the first county governments in the country becoming publicly recognized as a recovery-friendly workplace,” Jonathan Lambson, adviser with the Foundation for Recovery, said. “While suffering is a human constant, suffering silently and alone does not have to be. Washoe County, Nevada, is one of the largest employers in the area with over 3,000 people supporting your various departments. That means that recently 3,000 people were informed that if they’re suffering, if they’re struggling, if they need help, Washoe County is a safe employer to begin that process.”
2. Board initiates process to dissolve Department of Alternative Sentencing: The Department of Alternative Sentencing (DAS) was created in 1996 by Chapter 11 in the Washoe County Code to provide an alternative to incarceration for certain misdemeanor offenders, with the intent to enhance public safety, reduce jail overcrowding, and support the rehabilitation of individuals under court supervision.
Operational reviews and internal audits have identified many issues within DAS, including the need for improved fiscal controls, streamlined service delivery, and better alignment of resources with program priorities. The presence of overlapping functions with other County divisions and external agencies has prompted discussions about the most efficient and effective means of delivering court-ordered supervision and related services.
Chief Financial Officer Abbe Yacoben requested the initiation of proceedings to dissolve DAS by January 1, 2026, by repealing Chapter 11 in its entirety. The Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to open Washoe County Code Chapter 11, and will hold a first reading of the ordinance at a future meeting. The ordinance repeal will not be final until a second reading and approval, estimated to take place in November.
“We would like to increase and maintain the functions that are currently being offered, just in a different way of providing those services under existing resource-leading departments that have those opportunities,” Interim County Manager Kate Thomas said.
“This was not, in our minds, a monetary decision, this was an efficiency and a service-delivery decision, and the monetary was just a small piece of this,” Yacoben said.
3. Board appoints member to Board of Equalization: The Board of County Commissioners appointed four members to the Board of Equalization with one regular member term beginning on January 1, 2026, and ending on June 30, 2028, two regular member terms beginning on January 1, 2026, and ending on June 30, 2026, and one alternate member term beginning on January 1, 2026, and ending on June 30, 2026.
The Washoe County Board of Equalization is charged with hearing appeals filed by property owners who do not agree with the value placed on their property for tax purposes by the County Assessor. The Board conducts its hearings annually in February.
The members appointed today are: Erin Albright, Robert Lissner, Savita Shukla, and Corinthia Yancey.
4. ARPA funds de-obligated and reallocated to Washoe Behavioral Health Center: Washoe County received just over $91 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which has to be entirely spent by December 31, 2026. The Washoe County Community Reinvestment Program monitors the spending on approved projects and recommends de-obligation of funds when projects come in under budget so they can meet the deadline of expending all the funds by the end of 2026.
The Board approved the de-obligation of approximately $645,500 for projects that have been completed under budget, canceled, or will no longer need the previously approved levels of funding. These include National Fitness Courts; IVCBA – Mainstreet; Community Foundation of Northern Nevada; Sun Valley GID – Gepford and Highland Ranch Parks; Seven Magic Mountains; and Incline Village Justice Court Renovations.
In de-obligating these funds, the Board also approved reallocating the money to the Washoe Behavioral Health Center and Tahoe Lending Locals Program.
5. Board approves donations to county departments and programs: The Board of County Commissioners is required to approve donations to or from Washoe County. Today they voted unanimously to approve the following donations:
- $10,215 to Child Protective Services from Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (No Shave 2025); Anderson Keuscher PLLC; Washoe Masonic Lodge No. 35; United Way; Sandy Hardy-Cooper P.C.; juror donations; The Bridge Church; Safe Embrace; Assistance League; Hot August Nights; and numerous individual donors.
- Numerous donations to Housing and Homeless Services including $34,442 from the Estate of Victor G. Bucher, 10 boxes of books from the Katie Grace Foundation, and supplies from individual donors.
- Numerous donations to the Senior Services Fund including supplies with an estimated value of just over $13,000 and monetary donations totaling $965.
- Monetary donations totaling just over $24,000 to Washoe County Regional Animal Services. Other donations include pet food from the SPCA; food and goods from individual citizens and businesses; 600 doses of vaccines from Petco Love.
- Donation of surplus equipment from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Science Division to the Criminal Justice Department and Science Departments of the University of Nevada, Reno. The equipment includes cameras, books, robots, workstations, and more, valued at nearly $53,000.
6. Board proclaims October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Commissioner Clara Andriola presented a proclamation to the Washoe County Technology Services staff declaring October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
7. District Special Funds allocated to nonprofit organizations: The Board approved the following allocations of District Special Funds:
- $5,000 from District 2 to SPCA of Northern Nevada to support the adoptions of pets by senior citizens of Washoe County;
- $2,500 from District 3 to Awaken to support outreach and services to adults and youth who have been sex trafficked;
- $2,500 from District 3 to Horsemanship 4 Heroes to support the therapeutic work they do for veterans and first-responders and their families;
- $2,500 from District 3 to Sleep in Heavenly Peace for the purchase of beds and bedding for children who don’t have a bed;
- $10,000 from District 5 to 4-H Youth Development Program of the University of Nevada Extension to support the Washoe County 4-H Large Livestock, Horse Programs, and awards at the Nevada State Fair;
- $10,000 from District 5 to the Washoe County Human Services Agency to support the Men’s CrossRoads program;
- $5,000 from District 5 to North Valleys Band Boosters to support the Marching Band program and $5,000 to the North Valleys High School JROTC program.
