Charges brought mixed results

Jennifer Knight

Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002 | 10:07 a.m.

The conclusion of Community College of Southern Nevada teacher Vince Ricci's criminal case marks the end of a 10-month attorney general's investigation that brought out wrongdoing at the college but ended with mixed results.

The investigation spawned plenty of action but few cases that panned out:

Ricci's case is the last court action to come out of last year's attorney general's investigation on the college.

"I'm really disappointed in the results," Regent Tom Kirkpatrick said.

While the facts in both cases were strong, the legal outcomes aren't always guaranteed, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said.

"The reality is, we don't make the facts in these cases and we don't decide the outcome," Del Papa said. "These were complicated cases."

But other say there were some positive changes to come out of the investigation.

"I think CCSN is a stronger institution today because of the investigation," said Jane Nichols, Nevada's higher education chancellor. "As a result we changed the way we look at our contracts and we changed our hiring practices."

After the attorney general's report uncovered $1 million in construction contracts that never went through the proper bidding process, Nichols said the process has been changed.

Sandoval's anti-nepotism case resulted in changes in hiring practices. Job applicants are now asked if they have a relative working within the system.

Accounting practices have also been tightened and teachers are now expected to strictly adhere to the process of dropping students from their class who don't attend, Nichols said.