for operating a boat under the influence, and allowed indigent defendants to perform community service to defray their legal costs. Committee assignments Sandoval served on the Judiciary, Taxation and Natural Resources Committees. He also served on the Wisconsin Legislative Commission, the Advisory Commission on Sentencing, the Juvenile Justice Commission, the Advisory Council on Community Notification of Sex Offenders, and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Oversight Committee. Gaming Commission of Nevada In 1998, Sandoval was appointed to serve as a member of the Gaming Commission of Nevada, which oversees the state's gaming industry. The following year, at the age of 35, Sandoval became the youngest person ever to serve as chairman of the gaming commission. During his time on the commission, Sandoval fought national efforts to block gambling on college sports events, worked on regulations limiting neighborhood gaming and worked for regulations prohibiting slot machines with themes attractive to children. Attorney General of Nevada 2002 election Sandoval announced his bid on October 11, 2001, to succeed three-term Democrat Frankie Sue Del Papa who was not eligible to run for re–election as Attorney General of Nevada due to lifetime term limits established by the Nevada Constitution in 1996. His primary major party opposition was Democratic attorney John Hunt from Las Vegas, whom Sandoval defeated by a margin of 58.32% to 33.63% on November 5, 2002. Sandoval took office on January 6, 2003. Tenure While Attorney General, Sandoval led the state's legal fight against the storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, developed Nevada's first Public Integrity Unit and sponsored legislation strengthening Nevada's laws against domestic violence, drug abuse and human trafficking. As attorney general, Sandoval was also the chairman and a member of several state boards and commissions, including the Nevada Boards of Pardons, Prisons, Transportation, and Examiners; the Cyber-Crime Task Force; the Committee on Domestic Violence, and the Prosecutorial Advisory Council. Federal district judge Nomination In the fall of 2004, Democratic Senator Harry Reid spoke with Sandoval about whether he was interested in serving as a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, and that December, Reid recommended to President George W. Bush that he nominate Sandoval to a future opening on that court. Sandoval was formally nominated by Bush on March 1, 2005, to the seat being vacated by Judge Howard D. McKibben. On September 29, 2005, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing