Audit: County Holds $623,000 in Fees, 1,890 Open Cases at Public Administrator Office

The Clark County Public Administrator's Office is holding $623,000 in collected fee revenue that has not been sent to the county, according to a two-year audit. The audit also found 1,890 open cases in the office. Auditors identified eight areas they labeled high risk.

The office handles the property of Clark County residents who die without a will or a relative to manage their belongings. That includes pets, vehicles, real estate and other property. The office is led by an elected official serving a four-year term, with a budget of about $2.5 million and a staff of 29 people.

The county stopped forwarding its fee revenue to Clark County in February 2024, the audit said. The county told auditors that processing fees are needed for its budget but did not explain why the office stopped sending the money. The audit covers the period from 2024 through 2026.

During those two years, the office closed 1,808 cases, taking an average of 532 days per case. Of all cases, 59 percent have been open for more than two years. Among cases still open, most have been running more than three years; 315 have been open for more than five years and 34 for more than 10 years. Auditors recommended a two-year limit for such cases.

The office holds 147 vehicles, some for three years or more, in a parking lot that is nearly full. It also holds more than 4,500 personal property items, including firearms and jewelry, along with 289 checks. Four of those checks are for more than $10,000 each, and one exceeds $42,000. Some checks have sat undeposited for years.

The office also holds 105 sets of human cremated remains and six sets of pet cremains. More than half are at least three years old, and six are more than a decade old. The county crypt where these are stored is full, which leaves cases open. The audit also found unauthorized people, including someone who was not county staff, reached inventory from the homes of the deceased. Vault technicians can edit stored item records without supervisor approval.

Auditors said they asked the office for a plan to address the findings and had not received a response as of Oct. 22. The audit is scheduled for a county audit committee meeting Wednesday. Current Public Administrator Rita Page Reid, who is not running for re-election, declined a request for comment.

The office has a turbulent history. Former Public Administrator Robert Telles was convicted in the 2022 murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal journalist Jeff German, who had reported on Telles' conduct in the office. Republican Mike Murphy, who served as interim administrator after Telles' arrest, is running for the seat against Democrat Stephanie Itkin-Goodman, a deputy attorney general. Murphy said he was brought in in May 2022 to address issues raised in German's reporting while Telles was still in office. "Certainly, half of the time was spent with Robert at the helm," Murphy said. Itkin-Goodman said, "My opponent was brought in to help manage those long-standing problems."

Both candidates said they were concerned about the audit's findings. Murphy suggested requiring body cameras to address access issues. Itkin-Goodman called the lack of safety a failure and said, "The work begins on Day 1 with the county's audit as our roadmap. Immediate safeguards and a corrective action plan, with clear deadlines."