Nye County hires special prosecutor after DA investigator’s DUI arrest

Nye County brought in an outside prosecutor after a DUI arrest of one of the District Attorney’s Office’s own investigators forced the local office to recuse itself. The Board of County Commissioners approved a contract on July 7 with Las Vegas attorney Frank Coumou to investigate the case and take appropriate legal action, including criminal prosecution or civil action, with county spending capped at $5,000.

District Attorney Brian Kunzi said his office could not handle the case because Chad Whelan is employed by the same office that would normally prosecute it. The county money approved for Coumou is for a substitute prosecutor, not for Whelan’s defense, and any request for a public defender would be handled separately by the court if Whelan qualifies.

Whelan was arrested on June 14 after a passenger in his pickup told police he was too drunk to drive. He told a sergeant he had drunk two beers and was carrying his off-duty firearm. The firearm was removed from his hip when he stepped out of the vehicle, and he was given standardized field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test before being taken into custody. The passenger later told police she had texted a friend that Whelan was too intoxicated to drive, saying he was swerving and had consumed two double whiskey-and-cokes.

Whelan was transported to the Nye County Detention Center and released on cash bail June 15. His arraignment is set for September in Pahrump Justice Court. Whelan had worked as a district attorney investigator since early 2024, after previous service as a district court bailiff and a detention deputy for the sheriff’s office.

He spent 25 years in the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, later served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Violent Crimes and Strike Force Unit, and worked on a use-of-force team that investigated civilian deaths involving law enforcement officers. Kunzi, who was re-elected district attorney in 2022 after serving from 2010 to 2014, is handling the case through outside counsel. A 2009 Nevada conflict case led the county to turn to outside special prosecutors before when the local office could not fairly handle a matter of its own.