Judge’s campaign flier sent on court fax raises concerns

Dan Kulin

Thursday, March 13, 2003 | 9:07 a.m.

A Henderson business owner received an invitation to a February campaign event for Henderson Municipal Judge John Provost that appears to have been sent from a court fax machine with a court cover page on the fax.

If true, the incident would violate city policy that prohibits employees from using city resources for campaigning, an assistant city attorney said.

Provost says if it happened it was a mistake, and that he will look into the matter.

Meanwhile Douglas Hedger, a chief deputy public defender for Clark County who is running against Provost, said he asked a state judicial ethics panel for an opinion on the fax.

"I would hope that it is an innocent mistake," Hedger said. "I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I still want to see if it is a violation."

Hedger said that about three weeks ago he was given a copy of a two-page fax sent to Robert Ellis, the owner of B & E Auto Auction in Henderson.

The fax, which Ellis received on Feb. 13, included an invitation to a Feb. 18 "Campaign Kickoff Party" for Provost.

On the top of the fax are the words, "FROM: HEND MUNI CT-ADMIN." The cover page says "Henderson Municipal Court" and in the comments portion of the cover page someone wrote "Please plan to attend. Should be a great evening!"

"I saw it was on letterhead from the Municipal Court and I didn't think candidates were allowed to do this," Ellis said.

Hedger didn't either, so he researched the judicial ethics rules but couldn't find a rule specifically prohibiting sending such a fax from the courthouse.

"But I think it is improper," Hedger said.

A week ago Hedger asked the state's Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices to weigh in on the matter.

Hedger said he does not know when he will receive a response from the committee.

David Sarnoski, general counsel and executive director of the committee, said committee policy prevented him from confirming whether he received Hedger's request. Sarnoski also would not say whether using court property to campaign would violate any ethical rules.

The committee is made up of 27 members appointed by the governor, the Nevada Supreme Court and the Nevada Bar Association.

Hedger said if the committee tells him the fax is not a violation of any rules he will not raise the matter during the campaign.

However, it appears the fax may violate a Henderson city policy.

City employees are prohibited from using "city equipment (i.e. copy, fax machines) to assist in a political campaign," according to a July 1, 2002, memo to all city employees from Human Resources Director Daryl Moore.

"If this in fact happened, it would (violate) clear city policy," Ronald Sailon, an assistant city attorney, said. "No employee may engage in political campaigning while on the job."

Provost said Tuesday he would look into whether, and if so how, an invitation to his campaign event was sent from the courthouse.

"I'll check it out," he said. "It's something I didn't know about ... I'm not running my campaign from my office."

Provost, a judge since 1996, said he used his home computer to fax all of the approximately 500 invitations for the Feb. 18 event.

He said if an invitation was faxed from the court with a court cover page on the fax, perhaps it was done by a court employee who was responding to a request from someone who wanted information about the event.

But Ellis said he never asked for the invitation, it just showed up.

Ellis said he has contributed to Provost's re-election campaigns in the past, but he is not supporting Provost in this election. Ellis said he was turned off by Provost's lawsuit against the city over annual pay raises for the judges.

Provost, who filed the suit with fellow Municipal Judge Ken Proctor, dropped the suit after being sharply criticized by Henderson officials.

Because there are only two candidates for the judge's seat, the winner will be determined in the April 8 primary. Early voting is from March 22 to April 4.

David Damore, an assistant political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who specializes in campaign politics, said the matter should have little impact on the campaign.

"If it's only one fax his explanation seems realistic ... If it's one isolated case it will not really register with the voters," Damore said. "But if he sent all the invitations this way it would be serious."

Last month, a press release promoting a campaign event for Las Vegas Councilman Lawrence Weekly was sent out through a Metro Police fax machine. Lt. Vincent Cannito, police spokesman, said it was just a mistake in which the faxes were "commingled."