Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Assembly Speaker Frierson nominated to be U.S. attorney for Nevada

Nevada Legislature

Chris Kudialis

Speaker of the Nevada Assembly Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, reacts to a joke during an Assembly Ways and Means Committee hearing in Carson City on Friday, June 2, 2017.

Updated Friday, Nov. 12, 2021 | 5:36 p.m.

CARSON CITY — President Joe Biden's administration on Friday nominated Nevada Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson to serve as U.S. attorney in the state.

Frierson, who has worked as a public defender and local prosecutor when not in the statehouse, is among 37 U.S. attorneys that the Biden administration has nominated since taking office. The Las Vegas Democrat has served as Assembly speaker since 2016 and is currently presiding over the Nevada Legislature's redistricting process.

U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen submitted Frierson's name to the White House earlier this year.

“Jason Frierson is a Nevada trailblazer who has served his state exceptionally well, and I’m confident he will continue to do so as our next U.S. attorney,” Cortez Masto said in a statement on Friday.

Frierson would replace Christopher Chiou, who has served as acting U.S. attorney since Trump appointee Nick Trutanich left when Biden took office.

The Justice Department’s 93 U.S. attorneys, who are responsible for federal criminal prosecutions in their respective districts, are likely to be central to efforts to combat violent crime.