Justin Roper who is currently under investigation has resigned as Chief at the Washoe County Department of Alternative Sentencing, according to a message from County manager Eric Brown, after previously indicating he was on unpaid leave.
Roper is also the business owner of the for profit Las Vegas based Sober Testing Services, which was opened in 2021 soon after he had started in his county leadership job, drawing repeated concern from Commissioner Mike Clark.
The offices of the Department of Alternative Sentencing at 1530 E. Sixth Street were closed earlier this week as law enforcement had search warrants.
The department which is currently being audited received millions in state and federal grants to provide drug and alcohol testing services.
Roper’s bio page is still up on the County website indicating: “Chief Justin Roper has been serving as a law enforcement officer since 1998 within Reno and the Washoe County communities. He was inspired to pursue his career in law enforcement at an early age when he was involved in incident in which he saw how the officers helped him and his family in a very trying time in their lives. On November 10, 2020, he was honored to be selected as the Chief of the Department of Alternative Sentencing after serving the previous two years as their Sergeant.”
Regarding the department itself the county’s website indicates: “The Washoe County Department of Alternative Sentencing (DAS) was established in December of 2005 and approved by the Board of County Commissioners under the authority of Nevada Revised Statute 211A (http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-211A.html). DAS was designed to provide supervision to people whose sentences have been suspended and during Pre-Trial criminal proceedings. Depending on the type of supervision you are required to complete, you may have conditions that are set by the court such as drug test, attend counseling, House arrest and/ or get an evaluation, etc...”