Governor Steve Sisolak has appointed Las Vegas attorney Brittnie Watkins to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Watkins, a specialist in commercial litigation, including the hotel and gaming industries, and the first African American woman elected to the State Bar of Nevada Board of Governors, replaces Terry Johnson, whose term expired earlier this year.
“As Nevada’s gaming industry continues to recover from the pandemic, it’s critical that we remain the gold standard and operate with the highest integrity, and I am confident Brittnie will help us achieve that goal,” Sisolak said.
Watkins is the second African American woman to serve on the three-member, which serves as the principal enforcement arm of the state’s gaming regulations and whose licensing recommendations and other policy decisions generally are endorsed by the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Las Vegas attorney Sandra Douglass Morgan was the first and also was the first African American woman to chair the Control Board. She served from January 2019 to October 2020, when she resigned to join the board of directors of title insurance giant Fidelity National Financial.
Watkins earned juris doctor and master of laws degrees in gaming and regulation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
She also holds two bachelor’s degrees from Michigan State University, a master’s in criminal justice and a Ph.D. in educational psychology.
