With the state’s casinos contending with a reduction of armed security, the Nevada Gaming Control Board will consider amending state regulations to deal with the shortage.

Wednesday’s Board meeting will address an issue held over from a May workshop: new restrictions on FBI background checks for new onboarding, transfers, and license renewals for casino armed guards.

The agenda item is scheduled for just over a month after a man stabbed two Red Rock Resort employees before a security guard shot and injured him. The man is facing charges of attempted murder and battery with the use of a deadly weapon.

The discussion will involve aligning the registration process for armed casino security staff with amended procedures from the Department of Public Safety. It clarifies the acceptable documents for temporary registration of armed security and the time period for completion of registration, which now allows the application for a concealed-carry permit to serve as a rationale to be licensed temporarily as an armed security guard in a casino.

Under the current regulation, a temporary registration as a gaming employee is valid for 120 days after an application for registration is received by the Board.

That, however, became uncertain when on April 25, the Gaming Control Board’s Enforcement Division notified operators that registered gaming employees can meet only limited criteria to be an armed security guard: holding rather than just applying for a current concealed-weapon permit issued in Nevada; holding a current armed work credential issued within the state; being employed as an active-duty law enforcement officer in Nevada; being a retired law-enforcement officer who holds a current Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act card; being presently registered as a gaming employee in an armed-security personnel position with another licensee; or submitting a renewal of registration as a gaming employee in an armed-security personnel position.

During the May workshop, Deputy Attorney General Nona Lawrence told Board members that agents previously had access to criminal histories and arrest reports, including warrants from the Department of Public Safety. That allowed the Board to accept many armed security staff as temporary registrants, while they completed updated information. “But because they can’t access appropriate criminal records, those categories are eliminated as being suitable for temporary registration,” Lawrence said.

Similarly, the Nevada Private Investigators Licensing Board could also obtain criminal records previously, but that was terminated by the Department of Public Safety. Thus, the category of applicants that hold an armed guard card was eliminated as suitable for temporary registration, Lawrence said.

Kristi Torgerson, chief of the Board’s Enforcement Division, said they were notified by the Department of Public Safety that they could no longer access the criminal-justice information for background checks for non-criminal-justice employment or it would be a violation of federal law.

“With the practice no longer allowed, the information that would be missing is out-of-state warrants (and other critical information),” Torgerson said. “There’s no way we can complete this thorough background check any longer, so we were looking for other mechanisms, so they could stay in the industry.”

The proposed workaround that the Board will consider Wednesday and forward to the Gaming Commission allows those who apply for a concealed-weapon permit to immediately begin work as armed security. That permit process is handled by law enforcement, which can do FBI background checks without violating federal law — unlike what the Gaming Control Board would face if it continued to do them. If any issues surface, the license could be revoked for the armed employee.

The solution will be a relief to the Nevada resort industry; most Las Vegas casinos and one in northern Nevada employ armed personnel, as evidenced by the response to the Red Rock Resort stabbing.

The licensing issue has prompted concerns from the resort industry about many current armed guards losing their ability to carry firearms and the resorts’ ability to hire recruits.

“You all know that tourism safety is our top priority,” Virginia Valentine, president of the Nevada Resort Association said during the workshop. “People don’t want to go places where they don’t feel safe and secure. Armed security, along with our partners at Metro (Police Department), are a serious deterrent to crime on the Strip and maintaining that safety. They’ve been appropriately trained in security, and they’re important for employees and guests.”

While many security guards are former law enforcement, others aren’t, Valentine said. “We still have concerns. Anything that causes a delay in registration or renewal is a problem for us while we try to maintain and adequately train security staff. Future recruitments are affected by this. When security changes a position or guards change properties or locations, they’ll have to go through this process again. Ex-military or those who retired from another state will also experience these delays. These are really going to challenge our ability to maintain a properly staffed armed security force at the properties.”

At the time, Valentine asked the Board to rescind an April 25 notice to licensees and extend the current registration until Jan. 1, while the parties work out solutions.

Board Chair Kirk Hendrick said the safety of the community and visitors “is paramount” and that includes ensuring those allowed to carry weapons are “safe and secure” as well. “We’ve been put in a bad position. We’re working this out with other law-enforcement agencies and the federal government, but there’s no easy solution to any of this.”

Approving someone creates liabilities for the state that must be considered, regulators said.

Resort executives called for the Board to find a solution.

Eric Golebiewski, corporate vice president of security operations for Caesars Entertainment, said a “lot of passion” goes into armed security personnel protecting tourists and staff from harm. He said the new regulations have made it more difficult to fill positions.

“We recruit a lot of young men and women who are ending their contract with the armed forces in different states and relocating to Las Vegas and they’re looking for that first job in the private sector,” Golebiewski said. “They enjoy working for armed-response teams. This will put a damper on us. No one will wait 180 days to get their concealed-carry permit and they’re not eligible for the other options.”

Golebiewski said they recruit a lot of law enforcement that are either retired or just changing careers and moving to Las Vegas, who are now required to get a concealed-carry permit. Properties are dealing with the shortage the best they can.

“That recruitment process forces us to run a lot of overtime,” Golebiewski said. “The team will end up getting burned out or there’s gaps in coverage if nobody signs up for that overtime.”

Golebiewski said while they supplement with Metro Police, nobody knows the resorts like the armed security team that works there. Many officers don’t know the layout and can’t respond without the help of security.

Caesars has 60 armed security staff and 600 unarmed in Nevada. In other states, Caesars contracts with off-duty police officers and doesn’t face the problem it does in Nevada, with the FBI database access, he said.

Golebiewski said they’ve had staff who were working in armed security, but had to move to unarmed security until they could get their concealed carry permit.

“These individuals go through a psychological exam and extensive training far beyond what’s required to get that permit, because the job is so difficult, with congested space, mass crowds, and active-assailant situations that they’re prepared for,” Golebiewski said.

Steve Martinez, a retired Chicago police officer in charge of Caesars’s special response team, said he’s involved with the hiring of the armed staff and like others, he wants the Board to work out a solution.

“I have 40 officers and eight of them became unarmed who were armed in the beginning,” Martinez said. “It drastically affected us. They’re all currently getting their CCWs. One of my other big concerns is our military. We have a lot of guys coming out of the military and looking for jobs and we have to overlook them. We tell them, ‘Thanks for coming to the interview, but you need to get your CCW, and it’s going to take several months.’ We’re missing good quality people.”

Skip Wilks, chief of security at South Point Hotel Casino, mentioned staff who were armed in excess of 10 years, then came up for renewal. They don’t have CCWs, but are in the process of getting them.

“Because they came up for renewal, they’re no longer allowed to be armed until they get a CCW,” Wilks said. “It’s not just new hires. It’s affecting people who’ve been doing this for a significant amount of time.”

Properties have been adapting to the issue since the notice came out. Red Rock Resorts does in-house training to expedite the CCW process.

Gaming Control Board staff has also been working with casino human resources departments and security chiefs to get them to facilitate CCWs for employees before their renewal dates. It also asked staff to come up with more solutions on extending registrations.

“Can we temporarily register someone longer than the reg allows?” Hendrick asked in May. “I don’t know if we can.”

Staff said the state can cover its liability with the current terminal functions the federal government allows them to use. Every five years, they run fingerprints for criminal histories and they have access to in-state warrant information.

When they look at what the state’s liability could be, staff warned they don’t have the tools to access out of state and they aren’t comfortable if they don’t have that information.

Hendrick said the industry is in a tough spot and he doesn’t want casinos to recruit qualified people because the system doesn’t work.

“The other side of that coin is we can’t not follow our own regulations, our own statutes,” Hendrick said at the time. “We don’t have the authority to do that. These are the Nevada Gaming Commission’s regulations and the legislative statutes, so we can’t run afoul of that.”

Staff told the Board at the time that they needed to go back and look at the statutes to determine solutions, including extending temporary registrations.

Hendrick acknowledged in May that it would take time to develop solutions and bring them back before the Commission.

“The question is could we rescind our industry notice that we don’t have the ability to do what we used to do,” Hendrick said. “If we’re missing the other 49 states’ ability to tell us whether or not a temporary registrant has an outstanding warrant, what other ways can you legally obtain that?”

Staff said there’s no other database to find that out. It comes down to a level of comfort even if it’s allowed.

Valentine suggested one of the possible changes is an extension for those who have changed location, been promoted to a different job, or employed for a certain length of time with no problems.

“Criteria that make you feel more comfortable or reduce what you feel is your liability,” Valentine suggested.

Hendrick said one solution was an extension for those who have had an armed security license for 10 years after the five-year renewal.

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