For decades, the Clark County Juvenile Justice Probation Supervisors have worked as peace officers -- they make arrests of juveniles and adults; they exercise reasonable uses of force; they access criminal data bases; they carry handcuffs; they can wear ballistic vests; they can carry OC spray and batons; they have to be POST certified and obtain annual training to keep their jobs: and they are part of the State's Police/Fire early retirement system.

Despite these clear indications that they are peace officers, these highly educated and highly trained people have been represented by SEIU, a civilian bargaining unit that is not composed exclusively of law enforcement (as required by NRS 288).  They've often sought to remove themselves from that unit and form a bargaining unit for their own law enforcement needs, including wages, benefits and working conditions.  Their informal requests to leave SEIU were ignored.

What did the County Manager say when the formal paperwork was filed in late 2008 by the Juvenile Probation Supervisors, seeking to leave SEIU and obtain recognition as their own bargaining unit?  She suddenly said they aren't law enforcement and, therefore, they don't have to be in their own bargaining unit.  According to County Manager Virginia Valentine, they can stay right were they are with SEIU, thank you!!

Not to be deterred, the Juvenile Justice Supervisors and Assistant Managers Association (JJSAMA) filed a complaint before the State of Nevada's Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB).  On July 28, 2010, the EMRB found that the Juvenile Probation Supervisors (and, by implication, the Juvenile Probation Officers) are peace officers and, therefore, they must be represented by a bargaining unit composed exclusively of law enforcement.  Presumably, JJSAMA will now enjoy rights they have sought for years -- the right to be called peace officers and the right to form their own law enforcement bargaining unit. 

Congratulations JJSAMA !!!