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March 29, 2024

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State to spend $305,000 to defend private-school subsidies

CARSON CITY — The state plans to spend $295,000 to hire a lawyer to defend Nevada’s law giving subsidies to parents who send their children to private schools.

The state Board of Examiners today agreed initiate a contract with the law firm of Bancroft PLLC.

Attorney General Adam Laxalt said the firm's partner Paul Clement, who has extensive experience before the U.S. Supreme Court, “gives us the best shot to win this case.”

The money will come from the state’s contingency fund, because Laxalt said he has no money in his budget to pay the cost.

Two lawsuits have been filed — one in the federal court in Las Vegas and the other in state District Court in Carson City — challenging a state subsidy estimated at $5,000 to parents who send their children to private schools or provide home schooling.

Laxalt said the ACLU, which brought the case in Las Vegas, has a team of lawyers to pursue the case.

Gov. Brian Sandoval said the case “could have national repercussions.”

He suggested the attorney general’s office try to combine the two cases and get them before the Nevada Supreme Court as soon as possible.

Laxalt said his office, which also has a team working on the case, will seek expedited review from the courts. But he cautioned the cases could take years to conclude.

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