State, wildlife worker settle suit

CARSON CITY -- Barton Tanner, a state wildlife division employee in Lincoln County, once offered to settle a complaint against the state for $9,750.

The state refused and now Tanner is $90,000 richer.

The state Board of Examiners Monday agreed to an out-of-court settlement of $100,000 for Tanner who had been accused by fellow workers of trapping a gray fox out of season. Tanner said the misdemeanor charges were filed in retaliation for his court testimony in support of a hunter who had been charged with game violations.

Tanner was acquitted on the criminal charge. He then filed a lawsuit but offered to drop the action in return for $9,750. The state Division of Wildlife refused, saying their agents were correct in bringing the criminal charges. After trial, a federal court in Las Vegas awarded Tanner $330,000 but a judge tossed out the judgment and ordered a new trial.

Before the trial could begin, the state instead negotiated the $100,000 settlement with Tanner.

Solicitor General Mark Ghan said after the first trial, a tape recording was found of a conversation between Tanner and the state game officials about the illegal trapping. Ghan said Tanner's statements were quite a bit different than what he testified to at the first trial.

Ghan told the examiners board however the tape recording "could cut both ways," and he later told reporters that if a second trial was held, Tanner possibly could receive a bigger judgment.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, a members of the examiners board, said the employees of the wildlife division "attempted to do the right thing" in arresting Tanner, who runs the Key Pittman Wildlife area near Hiko.

This was the third major case in the past 18 months in which the state rejected a small pre-trial settlement and wound up paying hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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