Lombardo facing $1.7 million ethics penalty

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo is facing an almost $1.7 million ethics penalty and possible censure for wearing his badge and uniform as Clark County sheriff in campaign photos and on social media ahead of his election last year.

Documents posted in advance of a June 13 hearing in Reno also recommend the appointment of an ethics compliance liaison to Lombardo’s office due to alleged violations of a state law barring public officers from using their positions “to secure or grant unwarranted privileges, preferences, exemptions or advantages.”

In his recommendation, Ross Armstrong, executive director of the Nevada Commission on Ethics, cited 68 violations of ethics laws that he called “willful” and serious.

“Each time Lombardo’s campaign posted an image, published a video, or otherwise caused a campaign post to include Lombardo in his uniform, badge, or gun constitutes a separate act,” it said.

Lombardo’s office declined to comment on the recommendation to the eight-member ethics commission, which is appointed by the governor and Legislative Commission to interpret and enforce state ethics laws.

But in legal responses to the Ethics Commission complaint, Lombardo attorneys called the proposed penalty “eye-watering,” unprecedented and “based on his use of the same four images on social media during his gubernatorial campaign.”

“Simply put, the executive director’s approach to this proceeding is the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to swat a fly,” the attorneys wrote. They argued that no state law says a sheriff can’t wear his uniform and badge in campaign materials.

Lombardo served two elected terms as nonpartisan sheriff in Clark County — the administrative head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the largest police agency in the state. He resigned in January 2023 when he became governor, after defeating Democratic incumbent Steve Sisolak the previous November.

“Because the Nevada Legislature declined to make the position of sheriff a ‘resign to run’ position, Lombardo remained a public officer ... throughout his gubernatorial campaign,” his attorneys wrote.

Mark Hutchison, an attorney and Lombardo supporter who formerly served as Nevada lieutenant governor and as Ethics Commission chairman, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that to his knowledge, the largest fine the commission has ever issued was $15,000.

“What I fear is that the commission is going to undermine its integrity and the foundational principles that it’s supposed to operate on, which is impartiality and fairness,” Hutchison said.

In 2004, the commission found fined then-Controller Kathy Augustine $15,000 for three “willful” ethics violations, including having her assistant coordinate campaign fundraisers and design campaign invitations while on state time and storing campaign-related documents on government-owned computer equipment.

In Lombardo’s case, commission attorney Elizabeth Bassett wrote that “state ethics law and precedent have been clear for many years that the use of a uniform and other accoutrements of office — including a badge — to support one’s campaign constitute violations.”

The commission attorneys also cited a 2021 Nevada Independent report in which Lombardo’s campaign strategist said voters were “entitled to know and see what he does for a living.”

The Nevada Independent reported Wednesday it found at least three Ethics Commission orders during the past seven years addressing sheriffs’ abilities to use official uniforms, badges and other physical attributes of the office to support their re-election campaigns. It said the commission also asked the state sheriffs’ association to act to prevent the issue from arising again.

In 2018, the news website found, the panel cited then-Storey County Sheriff Gerald Antinoro’s lack of knowledge about rules and regulations and rejected a complaint that he wore his uniform during debates and in campaign materials while seeking re-election.