UNLV law teacher new solicitor general

Wednesday, July 12, 2000 | 11:32 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A former judge and teacher at UNLV has been named state solicitor general, a branch of the attorney general's office that supervises lawsuits against the state.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa named Alan Beckman to the $88,650-a-year job, succeeding Mark Ghan, who resigned to become a deputy in the Reno city attorney's office.

Beckman is an adjunct professor teaching pre-law courses at UNLV. He previously served as a prosecutor with the attorney general's offices in Florida and Colorado and was a judge in Colorado's Arapahoe County Court for 10 years.

Beckman inherits a number of cases including the high-profile complaint against Del Papa that she fired investigator Michael Anzalone on grounds he refused to become involved in illegal wiretapping of former state Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible and other high state officials.

Ghan had been cited for contempt of court in that case for failing to turn over all of the records sought by Anzalone's attorneys. He performed community service by doing extra work in the office.

Del Papa contends the investigator illegally took documents out of some Anzalone files and impeded the investigation of whether a slot machine cheating ring was tied to high state officials.

The attorney general also named Paul Hewen as chief financial officer, succeeding Gene Etcheverry, who took a job in Nye County. Hewen has been an information systems specialist for the state and has worked on computer projects such as Nomads and Genesis, the new systems for the state Welfare Division and the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, respectively.

Also appointed was Greg Smith as deputy chief investigator who will provide general supervision over the investigative staff in Las Vegas. He was senior investigator with the attorney general's workers' compensation fraud unit.

The appointments are the latest shifts in the office of the attorney general, which has been hit with a spate of resignations or firings.