Some 400 state officials late with ethics records

Friday, April 10, 1998 | 10:48 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- More than 300 public officials in Nevada including Reno Mayor G.W. "Jeff" Griffin and Councilman Pierre Hascheff have failed to file their financial statements with the state Ethics Commission by the March 31 deadline.

And the penalty gets stiffer as each day passes.

"That's a large number compared to previous years," said Senior Deputy Attorney General Louis Ling, adviser to the Ethics Commission. As of Thursday there were 378 names of elected or highly appointed officials whose statements have not been filed.

One whose financial disclosure form has not been filed is Clark County Sheriff Jerry Keller but he said it was sent certified mail to Carson City on March 30 one day before the deadline.

"I never miss one of these things," Keller said. "I'm on top of these things."

If the letter is postmarked before April 1 there is no penalty.

For those who are late, Ling said the penalty is $25 a day for the first seven days. From day eight through 15, it's $50 per day. And after that it's $100 a day. As of Thursday, the delinquent officials owe $175.

The commission intends to send letters next week notifying those who have not submitted their form. One is former Clark County Treasurer Mark Aston, who recently pleaded guilty to a criminal charge and left office. But a commission spokeswoman said he was still required to file and owes a $175 penalty as of Thursday.

Another delinquent filer is Earle White, chairman of the Las Vegas Ethics Commission. He submitted his form in February but it was returned to him as being incomplete with instructions to file it by March 31, said the spokeswoman. It hadn't shown up as of Thursday.

Ling said the law requires the officials to file statements listing their sources of income and gifts both with the local office and the Ethics Commission. Just because a statement is submitted to a city or county office, doesn't mean it is not due at the state office, he said.

Ling said a reason behind the high number of delinquencies may be that counties and cities provided more names to the Ethics Commission of those who fall under the law.

"They were more careful," Ling said in referring to the local governments who supplied the names. "Lots of these were little boards and commissions who have not reported to the Commission in the past."