Carson City Public Administrator asks for separation from Clerk-Recorder's office despite state law prohibiting it

Clerk-Recorder and Public Administrator Scott Hoen went before the Carson City Charter Committee on June 12, 2024 to ask that the role of Public Administrator be separated from the Clerk-Recorder’s office. However, the charter committee has no jurisdiction over the office or how it is structured, and a separation could only occur if state law is changed according to Carson City District Attorney Jason Woodbury.

Hoen recently made headlines after it was revealed that he had neglected to authorize the cremation of over a dozen indigent individuals for several months, whose bodies sat in refrigerated storage at a number of Carson City funeral homes. This number has since increased to 39 bodies.

Hoen told the committee the workload is simply too much: “It’s a lot for one person. I literally have never worked so hard in my life for so little.”

“Carson City is the only County (Consolidated Municipality) to have the Public Administrator responsibilities under the Clerk Recorder,” Hoen told Carson Now via email. “And being the Clerk Recorder you are the Clerk, Recorder, Registrar of Voters running elections, marriage licensing, notary and the Public Administrator … I tried to convince the Charter Review committee the importance of the issue because it is in our 1969 Charter that the Public Administrator is the Clerk Recorder – thinking they would take it up and change the Charter.”

However, as was repeatedly mentioned during the meeting, neither the Charter Review Committee nor the Board of Supervisors has the ability to separate the offices as only a change of state law could make that happen.

While the committee members and Woodbury said they sympathized with Hoen, the Public Administrator position is set by statute. NRS 253.010 specifically states that “the Clerk of Carson City shall serve as Public Administrator of Carson City.” In order to separate the two, Carson City would have to use its only bill draft request for the session to make the change, as pointed out by committee member Susan Hoffman.

“At least I got an audience and don’t agree with the DA but I am hopeful that the Charter Review committee will bring it to the attention (of) the Board with their report,” Hoen wrote to Carson Now via email. “At some point in time, the Board is going to have to spin off the office as it is just too much for one person, and I put in the hours!”

The law stipulates the Public Administrator “may appoint as many deputies as the public administrator deems necessary to perform fully the duties of his or her office. A deputy so appointed may perform all duties required of the public administrator and has the corresponding powers and responsibilities.” Woodbury said this would be a budgetary item under the Board of Supervisors.

The other 14 rural counties investigated have different configurations of departments. Of the other 14 counties included, six were under the DA’s office, six were in a separate office, one was under the Treasurer’s office, and one was unknown.

Eight of the counties have treasurer offices combined with the clerk offices, which is a separate office in Carson City. Four counties combine the office of recorder and auditor.

Hoen pointed out that since the charter was created in 1969, the city has grown exponentially.

“His point is well taken; Carson City has grown drastically since the original structures were put in place,” Woodbury said. “I’m sure at one point (combining the departments) was manageable.”

“But this isn’t under our purview, so we can’t help,” Committee member Kimberly Fiegehen said.

Woodbury agreed that Hoen’s request was beyond the authority of this committee, but if they were inclined, the committee could bring it up with its joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors.

During the review meeting, Hoen went on to say that he works 12 hour days, but he does so because he cares about the city. He also said that the pay is too little, but that it is set by statute and hasn’t been updated since 2018. “My chief deputies will end up making more money than me; it’s too much for one person.”

However, according to emails sent from Hoen to one of the funeral directors, there is a vacancy in his department that he hasn’t filled since the position was first posted in early December 2023. Interviews were held in March, but for nearly eight months the vacancy has remained unfilled.

When asked about the vacancy, and whether filling it would help with his workload, Hoen said he is working on making a decision.

“Yes, the Chief Deputy of Elections is still vacant and looking for the right manager to run the elections,” Hoen wrote. “The issue really comes down to the level of compensation to find that right person for Carson City. I did find a couple of candidates but we just couldn’t match income requirements with the individual knowing that they would have to put in 12 hour days during the election season – literally all of 2024. I have one internal candidate and one external and will be making a decision soon but must be fair to the other Deputies that I have. … We are a team and involving my other Chiefs in the hiring process as communication within our department to cover for one another and be on the same team is critical to providing the best service to our residents.”

When asked if he meant he was still interviewing and seeking candidates, Hoen did not respond. There is not currently a job posting listed for the position on the city’s employment page.

In addition to the vacancy, in July 2023, a new position was requested and was approved for an additional employee that would spend 20 hours a week minimum in the office of Public Administration, and the rest of the time would be used to cover work in the clerk-recorder and elections departments, with the exception being during election years where most of their time would be spent on elections. That position was filled in January 2024.

Funeral home workers refute Hoen’s claims that he is working 12 hour days in the office.

Funeral home representatives complained a number of times of going to Hoen’s office in person in an attempt to get signatures for cremations, only to find he was gone — or in some cases, “sitting with his feet up on his desk with nothing to do.”

In addition, Carson Now attempted to reach out to Hoen several times through phone calls and drop-ins at the office, but he was never there when contact was attempted.

When this was mentioned, Hoen apologized for missing the attempts, but insisted he works seven days a week.

“I usually am in the office no later than 7 a.m. and there until 6 p.m. except those evenings that there are meetings,” Hoen wrote. “I usually work half day Saturday or Sunday a.m. too – this position takes time to get the job done and I wish I had more to do everything that is required of me.”

Hoen also said Carson Now was free to ask his staff where he was. However, in failed attempts to speak with Hoen, staff simply said he was unavailable. Requests of his staff sent after Hoen gave permission to speak with them to confirm he works 12 hour days as well as the weekends went unanswered.

When asked how he spends his days, Hoen said he attends a number of meetings and reaches out to the community regarding elections.

“I have Mondays and Tuesdays reserved for luncheon appointments and attend afternoon meetings as the Clerk Recorder. I am at nearly all the Board (of Supervisors) meetings upholding my responsibility of tracking the vote, resolutions and ordinances that we end up recording. The charter is pretty clear how serious that task is and that is every other Thursday for a half day most of the time. I am our PIO (Public Information Officer) reaching out to as many community meetings I can to educate our voters the importance of our election security and dispel any election theories. I have invited voters to come and see how our equipment and systems work. The more they understand – the greater the confidence they have in our election and the results we post.”

Hoen said when it comes to his position, elections and recording takes precedence.

“Elections is so important to have a fully transparent and secure election with all the help of our election workers,” Hoen wrote. “We installed video cameras in our election space where our counting occurs making it easier for Election observers to participate by watching the video feed in our office. The more we can share and be transparent the better. We just finished the Primary Election with a successful Risk Limiting Audit and have sealed up the records and retain those records for 22 months until shredding. We are verifying signatures on several petitions submitted by different parties to be on the ballot in November. We will have a very detailed sample ballot with two specific questions for Carson City along with the State questions.

“The community should know that they have a great Recorder department that cares for all the records and in particular land records. We implemented a new property notification alert system that homeowners can sign up to receive FREE alerts if anything is ever recorded against their property or name to prevent property fraud. We have less than 1,000 homeowners of the 24,000 in Carson City signed up for the service. We secured all our old records back to the mid 1850’s in fireproof, waterproof cabinets to protect not only land records and the history but all the marriage licenses going back in time. We have three employees dedicated to this effort.”

The office was previously held by former Clerk-Recorder and Public Administrator Aubrey Rowlatt. During the committee meeting, Hoen said Rowlatt quit because of the workload; however, while Rowlatt has always advocated for a separation between the departments, she spoke many times on her decision to leave the position due to the harassment by the public and the stress caused by elections leading to burnout. Rowlatt was one of ten of the state’s 17 election leaders who resigned following the "stressful" 2020 election year.

Hoen said during the review meeting that he spends too much time trying to track down heirs, and that the position requires a lot of investigative work including emailing and phone calls. “We’re doing it, I’m making it work, it’s what I signed up for … but it’s too, too much for one person.”

Hoen told Carson Now that the main issue is a lack of resources and that he and the office are doing the “best they can with limited staff.”

“Elections, Recorder and the Clerk take priority over Public Admin functions and the emergencies that occur,” Hoen wrote. “The legislative session will be a priority the first 4-5 months of 2025 but not nearly as demanding as elections. More time will be spent in this area documenting processes to help the next Clerk Recorder with the responsibilities of the office. (It's) going to take a special person dedicated to all the hours with statutory compensation per NRS.”