Joey Gilbert
School District attorney Joey Gilbert announced his resignation at Tuesday’s Douglas County School Board meeting.
“Put simply, my job was done,” Gilbert told The Record-Courier on Thursday.
Gilbert said his objectives were clear when he took the job in July 2023; to replace the superintendent, restore the authority of the elected trustees, and initiate a special counsel investigation to address any misconduct within the district.
During the future agenda item portion of the meeting Trustee Yvonne Wagstaff sought to schedule a special meeting to discuss the termination of Joey Gilbert Law, but withdrew the request after Kendra Jepsen announced the plan to resign.
“That won’t be necessary, because we planned to turn in our resignation tonight,” said Jepsen.
Gilbert was hired in July 2023 replacing Maupin, Cox & LeGoy who represented the Douglas County School District since 1995.
Board President Susan Jansen raised the proposal to seek new counsel during the June 13, 2023, School Board meeting, stating that trust was lost between the board and the Maupin, Cox & LeGoy law firm.
That move came forward after a transgender policy was proposed in May 2023 and a memo from firm associate Paul Anderson in response to a request by former Superintendent Keith Lewis indicating that the district could lose its eligibility to participate in sports under the Nevada Interscholastic Athletic Association should it implement a policy banning transgender students.
Anderson serves as counsel for the athletic association in addition to Maupin, Cox, & LeGoy Law firm.
It was agreed during the June 13, 2023, meeting that an RFP process would be created, and each board member could bring forward a candidate to interview during the special meeting.
Maupin, Cox, & LeGoy Law Firm and Joey Gilbert Law were the only submitted contracts at the July 11, 2023, board meeting, where after a 4-3 in favor vote, Maupin, Cox & LeGoy was terminated, and Joey Gilbert Law was hired.
During the April 9, 2024, school board meeting, Gilbert said one of the reasons he was hired was to fire former Superintendent Keith Lewis.
Lewis ended up resigning in November 2023 after he said disagreements with the majority of the board forced him out. Some of those disagreements included the replacing of the district’s legal counsel.
While the consideration for new counsel has been brought up on many occasions, it was placed on the Future Board Agenda list in October 2024 by Wagstaff and Trustee Carey Kangas to potentially hire in-house counsel, which was discussed during the Nov. 12 meeting.
During that meeting it was decided more information was needed before a decision could be made and legal counsel advised postponing and rewriting the item.
The termination of Joey Gilbert Law’s contract was added to the list in November by Wagstaff and trustee Linda Gilkerson, which was mentioned again during Tuesday’s meeting before Joey Gilbert Law made their announcement to resign and is scheduled to be addressed again during the Jan. 14, 2025, board meeting, according to the Future Board Agenda list.
Superintendent Frankie Alvarado told The R-C on Thursday that the district would not be providing any comment regarding Joey Gilbert Law.
“I can share that the district has started an immediate process to find legal representation,” said Alvarado. “This will not be a public process as it is a procurement of professional services.”
Also planned for the January 2025 school board meeting is a review board policies and bylaws that were changed and a return to 3-minute public comment time.
