The state Gaming Commission has voted to use its website for placing public notices of proposed regulations, ending the long-standing requirement they be published in the newspapers in Nevada.
The state attorney general's office said the website is more efficient and the notices will be available to everyone. And it will save up to $20,000.
Casinos are now notified by email of these proposed regulations, and persons can be placed on the mailing list for receiving the notices.
Barry Smith, director of the Nevada Press Association, protested the regulation. He said there were 300 to 350 boards and agencies and it would be impractical for a member of the public to comb through these notices every day.
"People who are not looking for it can find it anyway" now in the newspaper, Smith said. The state gaming agencies are notifying the casinos but are not notifying the public, he said of the new regulation.
He said there was also the concern that the website could be altered and the documents changed.
Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard also questioned if the records could be tampered with on the website. But Gaming Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli said there was little chance of that. In addition he said there is always the hard copy of the proposed regulation in his office.
The new regulation would remove the requirement of publishing the proposed regulations on internal controls in casinos, minimum bankrolls, new games, manufacturers and inter-casino linked systems and the calculation of payouts and distribution of pools on horse racing.
The commission also repealed the regulation overseeing betting on jai alai.
Jai alai isn't played in Nevada casinos anymore.
The commission was told that eliminating the jai alai rules was in line with Gov. Brian Sandoval's directive to eliminate all unnecessary regulations.