Stephen D. Hartman

Stephen Douglas Hartman was a distinguished attorney and developer who spent his career serving the Carson City community and rural Nevada. Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 13, 1948, to William Charles Hartman and Pansy Louella Hartman, he attended Western High School and went on to Cal State Northridge before earning his law degree at the University of San Diego. He and his family moved to Carson City in 1972.

Steve was admitted to the Nevada State Bar in 1973 while working as a law clerk for Justice Cameron Batjer of the Nevada Supreme Court. Following his clerkship, he joined the Carson City law firm then known as Laxalt, Berry & Allison, where he became an integral partner and spent more than twenty years representing farmers, ranchers and developers who helped shape the growth of Carson City, Douglas County and Lyon County. The firm later became Allison, MacKenzie, Hartman, Soumbeniotis & Russell and, due in no small part to Steve's foresight, survives today as Allison MacKenzie. Among the property owners and developers he represented were the pioneering Dangberg family of the Carson Valley, the developers of the Ridge Resorts, and the developers of several northern Nevada golf course communities including Dayton Valley, Genoa Lakes, Sunridge and Silver Oak. He was also a driving force behind the establishment of the Carson City Open Space Program, which over two decades led to the designation of nearly 7,000 acres of perpetual open space.

In 2001, Steve joined Vidler Water Company as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and General Counsel, a role he held for the next 24 years. He became an industry leader in supporting economic growth throughout the Southwest through the development of sustainable and reliable water supplies, forging strategic partnerships with local governments and municipal water providers across Nevada. A firm believer in civil service, he was deeply involved in local, state and national politics throughout his adult life, offering support and counsel to aspiring and established Nevada politicians. He left a legacy of lawyers and public servants he mentored and advised across his career.