State Ethics Commission chief Rohrs quits

Monday, Oct. 2, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Ken Rohrs, the first executive director of the revamped state Ethics Commission, is resigning to "look for something more challenging."

Rohrs said today he has accomplished what he set out to do and will leave in mid-November or December when the commission finds a replacement for the $72,000-a-year position. The closing date for applications is Oct. 30. It was a year ago Sunday that he was appointed to the job.

The 1999 Legislature overhauled the Ethics Commission, giving it a full-time staff of two and setting up a procedure for a speedy resolution of complaints.

Rohrs, who was chief operating officer at the Nevada Judicial College prior to his present job, said the brochure giving information on financial disclosure requirements is completed; work is under way on a website to publish all the opinions and forms; the regulations have been approved and the ethics manual for public officials is ready to be released.

Legislation, involving mostly technical changes, has been prepared for submission to the 2001 Legislature, and he said he wants to see a new person in the job before the session starts in February.

He said he wants to find something in the legal field that is more "engaging intellectually."

While he said the Ethics Commission work has been "challenging," he wants to move on. He notes he had 50 employees under his supervision while at the judicial college and the Ethics Commission has only one other worker.

"It's a good time for me to move on," he said. He said his health is good. In March he was stricken with a vertebral artery dissection and was hospitalized for a few days. He said he has fully recovered.

The commission in the past had only an administrative secretary. But the Legislature created the post of executive director with an administrative aide. When Rohrs took over, there were scores of public officials who were late or didn't submit their required financial disclosure forms.

Those cases were cleared with the commission waiving most of the fines because of mistakes in levying the penalties or finding that the forms were filed but then lost.

The executive director fields the complaints against public officials and does an investigation to determine if there is enough evidence to go forward. He then makes his recommendation to a panel of commissioners, which considers the case. The panel then determines if there is enough evidence for a public hearing before the full commission.

During his tenure, the commission has handled high-profile cases involving Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald, state Human Resources Director Charlotte Crawford and political campaign manager Mark Kincaid. In all three cases, the commission found there was not enough evidence to cite them for violating the law.

The commission gave a public reprimand to Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin for failing to fully reveal his business ties with the Reno Tahoe International Airport. In another case the commission ordered the sheriff in Elko County to refund a profit he made in selling guns to the county. That amounted to $4.51.

The law, Rohrs said requires the commission first to make a determination there has been a violation. And a person cannot be cited if he relied on the advice of counsel.