Las Vegas attorney Brittnie Watkins was appointed to Nevada’s Gaming Control Board on Tuesday. She has spent the past five years practicing complex commercial litigation, including hotel and gaming matters, at the trial and appellate levels.
Gov. Steve Sisolak said Watkins will replace Board Member Terry Johnson, whose second four-year term expired in February. Johnson remained in the position for several months during the first half of the state’s legislative process.
The three-member Control Board makes recommendations on licensing and other gaming policy matters to the part-time Nevada Gaming Commission. Watkins’ appointment takes effect on May 3.
Brittnie Watkins, Nevada Gaming Control Board
Sisolak, in a statement, said Watkins’ education and legal backgrounds make her “the right person” as gaming regulators are overseeing a casino industry recovering from the economic devastation brought on by COVID-19.
Casinos in Nevada reopened on June 4 following a 78-day shutdown but under strict COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.
Nevada gaming regulators have said recently they won’t relax the current 50% statewide COVID-19 capacity restrictions on casino floors throughout the state until a large portion of the gaming industry’s hospitality workers had been vaccinated against the virus.
“As Nevada’s gaming industry continues to recover from the pandemic, it’s critical that we remain the gold standard and operate with the highest integrity, and I am confident Brittnie will help us achieve that goal,” Sisolak said.
Watkins earned two bachelor’s degrees from Michigan State University and she holds a master’s in criminal justice, a Doctor of Philosophy in educational psychology, and a Juris Doctor and a Master of Laws in gaming and regulation, all from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
In 2020, she became the first black woman to be elected to the State Bar of Nevada Board of Governors, which oversees the legal profession.
“The honor is a testament to change and a reminder of its possibility,” Watkins said of her position with the State Bar in an interview last year with the UNLV Boyd School of Law’s alumni publication. “Amid this historic time of social unrest, I attended my first official meeting, and contributed to a unanimous vote to issue a statement on diversity, inclusion, and justice for all,”
Watkins served as a judicial law clerk to now-retired Nevada Supreme Court Justice Michael L. Douglas.
Johnson, who was the Control Board’s longest-serving member, was first appointed to the position in 2012 and reappointed in 2017.
“I am grateful for Terry Johnson’s valued contributions, his longtime service, and for his willingness to lend his expertise to our great State,” Sisolak said. “His dedication and continuity to this position has aided the Nevada Gaming Control Board in their efforts of working alongside the gaming industry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. I cannot thank Terry enough for his service to Nevada.”
The Control Board saw a change last year when Chairwoman Sandra Douglass Morgan resigned to accept a board position with Fidelity National. In November, Sisolak appointed Brin Gibson as chairman. Gibson spent four years as the chief of the gaming division for Nevada’s attorney general and had been in private practice. Sisolak also appointed Philip Katsaros to the board in 2019.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
