Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson speaks to the media to discuss adding murder charges to two DUI cases at the Regional Justice Center, downtown, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019.
Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021 | 6:15 p.m.
The top local prosecutor in Las Vegas said Thursday that he will seek reelection in 2022.
In a campaign announcement, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson pointed to policy changes he has made since he was appointed in 2012, elected in 2014 and reelected in 2018.
"I am proud of what we have accomplished, and I feel strongly that there is still work to be done,” the Democrat said.
Efforts have included criminal prosecution and incarceration diversion programs and a Conviction Integrity Unit that reviews inmates’ claims of innocence, Wolfson said.
He said he wants to cut down on a backlog of criminal prosecutions that built up during the coronavirus pandemic, including 450 murder cases.
Wolfson, who began the job promising to limit death penalty prosecutions to the most serious cases, has been pushing for a man convicted of killing four people in 1999 to become the first person executed in Nevada in 15 years.
State and federal courts have paused that effort against Zane Floyd, pending reviews of the constitutionality of the state’s lethal injection drugs and execution method.
Wolfson’s previous bid to schedule the execution of two-time convicted killer, Scott Dozier, was blocked twice, in 2017 and 2018. Dozier killed himself in prison in 2019.
Wolfson endorsed a background check ballot initiative that passed the state in 2016, requiring most private gun sales to go through a licensed gun dealer.
The Democratic primary is in June. Wolfson is the first to announce he is running.
Democratic former state lawmaker Ozzie Fumo, a trial attorney and death penalty opponent who last year sought a seat on the state Supreme Court, said Thursday that he's considering a bid to challenge Wolfson.
