Douglas School district legal counsel Joey Gilbert Law announces resignation
School District attorney Joey Gilbert Law announced his resignation at Tuesday’s Douglas County School Board meeting.
During the future agenda item portion of the meeting Trustee Yvonne Wagstaff made a motion to schedule a special meeting to discuss the termination of Joey Gilbert Law, but withdrew the motion 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.
Trustee 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.
The Record-Courier reached out to Joey Gilbert and Douglas County Superintendent Frankie Alvarado on Wednesday who were unavailable for comment.
This is a developing story.
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