Meet Your DA – Melissa Brown

District Attorney Brown has served as a prosecutor in White Pine County since 2011.  In August of 2024, she was appointed by the White Pine County Commission to serve as District Attorney through the remainder of the 2022-2026 term. Prior to her appointment, DA Brown served as a Deputy Attorney General and Special Prosecutor with the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, handling domestic violence and sexual offense cases within the rural communities of White Pine, Eureka and Lincoln counties.  Her work during this time included securing Federal grant funding critical to supporting the prosecution of these offenses in Northern Nevada, as well as victim advocacy, nursing services for sexual assault exams and assistance for Elko’s domestic violence shelter. In 2021, DA Brown was selected as legal counsel for the White Pine School District, which she served in conjunction with a position of Deputy District Attorney for White Pine’s District Attorney’s Office. 

DA Brown grew up in Orange, California, the oldest of 5 siblings. She attended college at UC Riverside where in 1998 she earned her B.A. in Political Science / Law and Society. She obtained her J.D. from McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California in 2008, with certificates in International Studies and Government Affairs. After law school DA Brown sought adventure, clerking for the Hon. Dan L. Papez and Hon. Steve L. Dobrescu in Nevada’s Seventh Judicial District Court in Ely. The wide-open spaces of rural Nevada quickly grew on her and she made it home.

DA Brown lives in Ely with her husband.  They enjoy long, Nevada sunrise walks with their dog Lucky. In her spare time, DA Brown spends time quilting and attending hockey games.