Former Nevada District Court Judge Jennifer Togliatti has been appointed to the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) by Governor Steve Sisolak, alongside former state Senator Ben Kieckhefer.
Retiring from the bench in 2019 after 30 years of work as a judge and Clark County deputy district attorney, Togliatti was nominated for a federal judgeship during the Trump administration but never received a confirmation vote in the Senate.
Kieckhefer, who was first elected to the state Senate in 2010, was termed out of his legislative seat but announced his resignation from the Legislature last week.
According to the Nevada Independent, Sisolak described Togliatti and Kieckhefer in a statement as ‘highly qualified appointments’ for the NGC, adding: “This commission is the gold standard of gaming regulation, and these appointments will continue to honor that.”
Togliatti and Kieckhefer fill two vacant positions left open on the five-member NGC following Deborah Fuetsch’s resignation and John Moran Jr’s departure. Commission members serve four-year terms in a part-time capacity.
Togliatti was a judge on the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, appointed to the bench by former Governor Kenny Guinn in 2002. She previously worked in the Clark County District Attorney’s Office and served as a justice of the peace with the Las Vegas Justice Court.
Kieckhefer works as Director of Client Relations at the government affairs firm McDonald Carano, which has a large gaming practice. Former Gaming Control Board AG Burnett is also a partner at the firm.
He has also worked as Governor Jim Gibbons’ Communications Director and as a public information officer for the Department of Health and Human Services. He is also a former journalist with the Reno-Gazette Journal and the Associated Press.
The NGC’s next meeting is scheduled for October 28 and it will be the body’s first full meeting since May.
