A territory justice admonished Clark County officials connected Wednesday to crook implicit “any and all” records related to their investigations into a struggle of involvement successful the Public Works Department.
“Hand it over,” Judge Bita Yeager told attorneys for the county.
Yeager made the request during a greeting proceeding connected the presumption of her May bid for the region to supply records to the Las Vegas Review-Journal related to its investigations past twelvemonth of a nationalist works authoritative and the process that allowed lucrative nationalist works contracts to beryllium awarded to his wife.
The quality enactment sued the region for the records successful March. Since past twelvemonth it has been requesting records related to the county’s investigations that resulted successful the firing of Public Works Manager Jimmy Floyd, whose wife’s firm, Rock Solid Project Solutions, had received region contracts. The region refused to merchandise what it described arsenic confidential unit records.
After Yeager’s order, the region turned implicit immoderate further records, while withholding others that it said were from a second, related investigation. The Review-Journal past filed a question for the tribunal to enforce its order, oregon bid the region to amusement origin wherefore it should not beryllium held successful contempt.
Deputy District Attorney Scott Davis argued that the region had turned implicit the documents specified successful Yeager’s order. He besides said records related to a 2nd probe were not wrong the scope of the order.
Yeager disagreed. She made wide Wednesday that the region indispensable merchandise “any and each records related to, arising from, the struggle of involvement and immoderate consequent investigations from the clip they (the Review-Journal) made their archetypal petition to today.”
She noted that the region had a ineligible obligation, nether the Nevada Public Records Act, to assistance successful identifying applicable records.
“It’s similar the fox watching the hen house, erstwhile you’re saying, ‘Oh well, you cognize what? You didn’t inquire for the 2nd probe material,’” the justice said. “Because they don’t adjacent cognize what the 2nd probe worldly is.”
County attorneys told Yeager that records related to the 2nd probe would see an investigative summary and astatine slightest 1 witnesser statement.
County Counsel Lisa Logsdon said the 2nd investigation, which stemmed from accusation uncovered successful the first, pertained to “misuse of region resources,” specified arsenic the usage of region email for idiosyncratic matters.
A region spokesperson antecedently said the archetypal probe resulted successful Floyd’s suspension and the 2nd his firing.
Colleen McCarty, extracurricular counsel for the quality organization, told the judge, “The Review-Journal has mislaid each assurance astatine this constituent that determination whitethorn not beryllium different items that are being withheld that we don’t cognize about.”
Emails provided by the region to the Review-Journal this week amusement that aboriginal past year, a instrumentality steadfast besides conducted an enquiry into the conflict-of-interest allegations.
“How bash we cognize that determination isn’t a 3rd investigation?” McCarty said.
She suggested that possibly a peculiar maestro should reappraisal each the county’s materials astatine the county’s expense.
At the hearing’s conclusion, Yeager asked the parties to confer connected an attack for moving forward, and acceptable the adjacent proceeding day for June 24.
Contact investigative newsman Mary Hynes astatine mhynes@reviewjournal.com oregon astatine 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 connected X.
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