Update: Katie Williams is resigning from her position as the Clark County School Board’s District B trustee effective immediately, she stated in a Wednesday letter addressed to Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales.
In her resignation letter, Williams pushed back against the Clark County District Attorney’s investigation’s findings into her residency, but said she did not want to engage in a prolonged court fight with only three months left in her term.
“While I am confident that I would prevail in connection with the petition filed this morning by District Attorney (Steven) Wolfson, litigating with the Clark County District Attorney’s Office for the three (3) remaining months of my term would not be in the best interests of my family, and would not be consistent with my obligation to the service of my country through my current enrollment in the (Sergeants) Major Academy of the United States Army,” she said in her letter that she shared with The Nevada Independent.
Original story below:
Clark County DA asks court to declare school board seat vacant
The Clark County District Attorney’s office is now formally asking a court to declare Clark County School Board Trustee Katie Williams’ seat vacant after investigating and concluding she now lives in Nebraska.
The legal filing made Wednesday in Clark County District Court comes a week after the office sent Williams a letter asking her to voluntarily resign from her seat before it commenced proceedings to declare her seat vacant. The office said that as of the petition’s filing Williams hasn’t relinquished her office.
Williams said in a brief Wednesday phone interview she is weighing her options about how to respond.
Williams — a veteran, member of the Nevada Army National Guard and former Ms. Nevada — was elected to the board in 2020 and is not seeking re-election to her District B seat, which includes the Centennial Hills area in the northwest, North Las Vegas, Indian Springs and the Moapa area. Her term on the board will end in January.
The Clark County School District said in a Wednesday statement that Williams will stay on the board as a trustee unless she resigns or her seat is declared vacant by a court.
The statement also noted that any votes taken by Williams would not be affected by a resignation or removal from office — an implicit response to calls from the Clark County Education Association and others to vacate all of her votes on the board that were the deciding factor after she was no longer a Nevada resident.
In its legal filing, the district attorney’s office is requesting that the court conduct an evidentiary hearing to review its evidence showing Williams no longer lives in her district or the state. The petition states that based on information the district’s office received, it believes Williams is living in Nebraska, intends to stay in Nebraska and “her actions show she intended to abandon her residence in Nevada.”
If the court agrees, it can declare Williams’ seat vacant. Under the school board’s policy, the remaining trustees can request applications to fill the vacancy through an appointment.
The board, which is in the middle of its search for a new superintendent, has seven elected trustees and four appointed trustees, who may comment on issues but cannot vote on them.
Under state law, elected school board trustees must reside in the district they represent. If they cease to be a resident of their district, their office can be deemed vacant. If the office holder fails or refuses to relinquish their office, Nevada law allows the district attorney to take legal action to declare that office vacant.
State law defines an elected official’s legal domicile by whether they actually live there and whether they intend to stay there. The law states that while a person can have more than one residence, they can only have one legal domicile.
Evidence of a person’s legal domicile can include where an individual lives the majority of the time and the length of time they have lived there, where that individual lives with their partner or other family members, where they are registered to vote, the address listed on their driver’s license or vehicle registration and the address listed on their pay stub.
This story was updated on 9/11/24 at 12:55 p.m. to include a statement from the Clark County School District, and at 2:41 p.m. to include Katie Williams’ resignation letter.
