Delay, Deny, Deflect: A Washoe County Tradition

The newsletter we were sent yesterday January 22, 2026 … hey, thanks for reading Picon.

We were mildly amused yesterday when we were sent the Washoe County Justice Report—complete with a meme of Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks.

The report referenced a Picon story about the difficulty of obtaining public records and noted that we escalated the issue to DA Hicks and members of his staff. That part is true. What the report left out is that we’ve written numerous stories over the years about our ongoing battles to obtain public records from the District Attorney’s Office.

Public records compliance in Washoe County often feels optional, which it isn’t. And when the problem is consistent, it’s fair to assume it’s top-down. The “top,” in this case, is DA Hicks. Reviewing public records requests and producing them in a timely manner is literally his office’s job—yet delay after delay seems to be the default response.

Then came the messages.

Simple public records request which took the DA’s office about two months to fulfill.

Suddenly, we were hearing from folks telling us how great the DA’s office is, how responsive it is, and how everyone should just understand they’re “very busy” and can’t always meet the five-day statutory deadline. Interesting timing. Even more interesting: every single person reaching out appeared to be using a fake Facebook account—some created the very day the report went out.

Another tactic from the District Attorney’s Office was requesting to narrow the search. Did they need to narrow it or if we complied and narrowed the search did that mean they could avoid giving us records?

Coincidence? We think not.

For comparison per the report, let’s give credit where it’s due: the City of Sparks is a pleasure to deal with. If they can’t fulfill a request on time, they call you. Yes—an actual phone call. Radical concept.

So to those who felt compelled to rush to the DA’s defense: next time, we suggest better faux accounts and a firmer grasp of the facts. Public records law isn’t optional, and busy isn’t an exemption.

Stay tuned. We’ve got the receipts. We posted two.