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Laxalt Sets Up Office of Military Assistance

U.S. Air Force Capt. Brad Matherne conducts preflight checks inside an F-35A Lightning II at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., before a training mission on April 4, 2013.
By DoD photo by Senior Airman Brett Clashman, U.S. Air Force. (Released) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

U.S. Air Force Capt. Brad Matherne conducts preflight checks inside an F-35A Lightning II at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., before a training mission on April 4, 2013.

Last week, Attorney General Adam Laxalt announced his office will open a new Office of Military Assistance, which will help active-duty service men and women and veterans when they have legal issues in civilian court.

Laxalt says that when he was a JAG officer in the Navy, the Navy's version of an attorney, he and his colleagues would often be heartbroken by cases that they couldn't handle, because they aren't allowed to practice in state courts.

Military personnel often have problems with foreclosures, or landlords that refuse to release them from leases when they get transferred - even though the law states that landlords cannot hold active-duty personnel to their leases.

And, of course, forced separation sometimes ends in divorce, which often requires the services of an attorney.

The program utilizes bro bono lawyers from around the state. So far, 100 Nevada attorneys have signed up to donate 10 hours of time to active duty military and veterans.

Attorney General Adam Laxalt

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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Carrie Kaufman no longer works for KNPR News. She left in April 2018)