The Nevada Department of Taxation

Shellie Hughes was appointed Executive Director of the Department of Taxation in August 2021. Hughes has more than 15 years of experience in state and local tax law. Since March 2016, she has served as Chief Deputy Executive Director for the Department of Taxation. In that role, she assisted the Director in the day-to-day operations of the agency, she oversaw the development of technical bulletins, regulations, and legislation; and she consulted with the Attorney General's office regarding legal matters of the Department. Her prior roles include Chief Legal Advisor to California State Board of Equalization Chairman Jerome E. Horton, Tax Counsel for the California State Board of Equalization's Legal Department Appeals Division in the area of business and special taxes, and Graduate Student Assistant for the California Franchise Tax Board. Hughes graduated from McGeorge School of Law and received her JD degree with a tax concentration. She received her BA degree in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Yvonne has worked for the State of Nevada in various roles since 2001. She was appointed as the Chief Deputy Executive Director of the Department of Taxation in July 2022. Prior to joining the Department, Yvonne served as the Executive Director/Counsel for the Nevada Commission on Ethics for 12 years. Yvonne has also served in various other legal roles for the State, including as Deputy General Counsel for the Nevada System of Higher Education and Senior Deputy Legislative Counsel. She also spent several years in private practice focusing on civil litigation and government relations. Yvonne brings to this new role as Chief Deputy her legal, administrative, budgetary and legislative experience in support of Director Hughes and the mission of the Department. Her role as Chief Deputy will include representing the Director in agency operations and strategic planning, development and review of technical bulletins, regulations, and legislation, and consulting on legal matters with the Nevada Attorney General's Office. Yvonne graduated from McGeorge School of Law and is also a Certified Public Manager.

After honorably serving in the U.S. Navy for 11 years Joe Bernardy started his career with the State of Nevada where he has served for over 20 years.  The vast majority of that time has been spent in the Department of Taxation’s Information Technology Division.  In June of 2021, Joe accepted the position of Deputy Executive Director, Information Technology for the Department of Taxation.  Previous roles with the Department include Information Security Officer and Technical Team Lead of the server and network infrastructure team.

Jeff Mitchell began his current role as Deputy Director of Excise Local Government Services in 2017, prior to that he worked in a variety of different roles with the Department of Taxation starting in 2013.   Before starting at Taxation Jeff worked in a local government assessor’s office as an appraiser for ten years.  The Local Government Services Division within the Department of Taxation is a unique collection of professionals that provide valuation services of unitary property, review and provide budgetary guidance to local government entities, produce studies and reports to help in the assessment process. The Excise Division provides services to a variety of different tax types including but not limited to Cigarette, Liquor, Live Entertainment, and Insurance Premium Tax.  Jeff’s professional background is in the appraisal of property,  and he enjoys the many different tasks and duties that are required in his current role.  Jeff earned a Bachelor of Science  in Mathematics from Southern Utah University and Masters of Administration from Northern Arizona University.

Adriane Roberts-Larson has proudly served the State of Nevada since 1998. She began her public service career with the Department of Motor Vehicles and transitioned to the Department of Taxation in 2012. Her experience includes over 20 years in management. Adriane was appointed as Deputy Director of Administrative Services in November 2021. The Administrative Services Division is  responsible for providing centralized support for all administrative, financial and fiscal activities of the Department, including  budget/fiscal, tax distributions and statistics, demography, revenue accounting/processing/cancellations, document management, support services, and mailroom.  Adriane received her Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Western Governors University, in 2022, and is a graduate of Nevada’s Certified Public Manager Program.   

Jennifer Roebuck began her state of Nevada career at the Gaming Control Board in 1998.  She transferred to Peace Officers Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) in 2002 and then to Department of Taxation in 2005.  Roebuck has held a variety of positions throughout her state career in administrative functions, public service, revenue and audit, and management.  As part of her ongoing education, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting at Western Governors University, Nevada in 2017 and is a Certified Public Manager.  She incorporates her experience and education into the Deputy role and  is honored to serve the state of Nevada with the Department’s Compliance staff.  Roebuck was appointed January of 2022 as Deputy Director of Compliance. She provides oversight to the Compliance Division which includes the revenue and audit Department functions. 

Joy Grimmer has served in her current role as Administrative Services Officer IV since 2019 and acts as the Department's Chief Financial Officer. Joy is a native Nevadan and takes great pride in being a public servant. She was raised in rural Nevada and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Lee Business School where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Business in 2009. She is also a Certified Public Manager. Joy began her career with the Nevada System of Higher Education in 2009 and transferred to the State of Nevada in 2010. Joy began working on budgets for the state in 2010 and has encountered many unique financial/budget situations as a result. Joy has participated as Fiscal Staff for five Departments which has allowed her to learn different funding sources, such as the general fund, fee fund, grant funding, and the highway fund. Joy oversees the Accounting and Processing sections, Budget Build and Implementation, Accounts Payable, Payroll, distribution of funds to other government entities, document management retention, contract and lease functions, and all facility matters at the Department's three offices.   

Patric Starr is a dedicated Enterprise Project Manager and software designer with 24 years of experience modernizing systems for companies like Boeing Aerospace, AT&T, Microsoft, Nevada State Elections, and most recently the Department of Taxation. As Program Manager of the North American Enterprise Licensing group, Patric helped modernize the business flow creating efficiencies on the processing floor that resulted in an increase in output by the processing team. Patric joined the Department of Taxation in March of 2022 as the Enterprise Project Manager in charge of Project MYNT (Modernizing Your Nevada Tax). Leading the way in modernizing the Department’s tax systems, Patric will support employees and taxpayers through education and training.

James Underwood graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Information and Computer Science from University of California, Irvine in 1996, and has since worked in various technical and technology leadership roles in the private and public sectors, including CIO for a local government. His experience includes over 20 years in information security,  and he became a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) in 2017. He also completed the Carson City Chamber of Commerce Leadership program in 2019. James has been responsible for the completion of a wide variety of major private and public sector technology projects and most recently has focused on specializing in information security, which has long been a passion.  James was appointed Information Security Officer in 2021 and provides guidance to help improve the security posture of the Department and the State.    

Tina Padovano began her career for the state of Nevada in 2012 and started serving as the Executive Assistant for the Department of Taxation in 2014.  Prior to her service for the state of Nevada, Tina worked as a legal secretary for various law firms in both Nevada and California.  She earned an Associate of Science degree from Western Nevada College in 2010 and holds certificates in paralegal and legal assistant studies.