Nevada Assembly leader named new US Attorney in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada is getting a new top federal prosecutor following the confirmation of Democratic state Assembly leader Jason Frierson as U.S. Attorney in Las Vegas.

Democratic U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen hailed Frierson’s confirmation Wednesday, noting the position had remained open since the February 2021 resignation in of Nicholas Trutanich. Frierson also worked as a deputy Clark County public defender.

“Jason Frierson is a passionate, dedicated, and deeply knowledgeable Nevadan who will make an excellent U.S. Attorney for Nevada,” Cortez Masto said.

The appointment to the U.S. Attorney post is a four-year term.

Frierson will replace Christopher Chiou, the former first assistant U.S. attorney in Nevada who was made interim head of the office when Trutanich, a former top deputy Nevada state attorney general, left the job after Democratic President Joe Biden took office.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada has some 120 employees in Las Vegas and Reno.

Frierson’s appointment comes a little more than a week after the FBI named Spencer Evans as the new special agent in charge of the bureau’s Las Vegas field office.

Evans has held various investigative and leadership positions since joining the FBI in 2004, and was a deputy assistant director at FBI Headquarters in Washington. In Las Vegas, he replaced Special Agent in Charge Aaron Rouse, who retired in February after 25 years with the bureau.