Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Henderson constable has Hatch Act worry

Earl Mitchell, a Henderson constable and a city police officer, said with the Hatch Act controversy swirling around other elected officials who hold public sector jobs, he decided to hire a lawyer to see if the federal law could affect him too.

"At my own expense I retained an attorney because I wanted to make sure there was no issue for me," Mitchell, a Republican, said.

Mitchell, who has been constable for nine years and a police officer for about 17 years, said he's not aware of anyone complaining that he may be in violation of the Hatch Act. In fact, Mitchell said, he wasn't even aware the Hatch Act could cause problems for him until earlier this month, when he read news reports about potential conflicts for other elected officials.

The constable's office oversees serving court orders such as evictions, summons and warrants. Mitchell is paid about $2,300 a year for the job, a part-time position Mitchell said he spends about 23 hours a week on.

Mitchell said he has been paying particular attention to Richard Perkins' case. Perkins is a deputy police chief in Henderson and the speaker of the State Assembly. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which enforces the Hatch Act, said in a Sept. 30 letter that Perkins, D-Henderson, unknowingly violated the act when he ran for Assembly in the past. However, the office said if Perkins runs for Assembly again while still a city deputy police chief he could face disciplinary action for knowingly violating the act.

Mitchell said he's not sure what he will do if his attorney says his constable position puts him in violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal and some state and local employees from participating in partisan politics. State and local employees working in an executive branch of government that receives certain types of federal money are generally covered by the law.

Mitchell said he doesn't think the Hatch Act will apply to him because, as a police officer, his salary is not paid for with federal funds, and he doesn't oversee any programs or staff that receive federal funding.

Perkins, too, said he is confident the Hatch Act does not apply to him.

Perkins said he thinks the Office of Special Counsel will reverse its opinion after he explains how the city's Hatch Act compliance program and other actions taken by the department kept the speaker away from federally funded staff and programs.

Between January 2001 and Sept. 30 the city paid the Washington, D.C., law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld about $36,000 for Hatch Act-related work, including work on the city's compliance program.

Perkins said Thursday he will pay for any future legal expenses incurred by the city for Hatch Act-related work, because it would be to address his specific situation.

He also said that he will review past charges from the law firm to see if he should reimburse the city for any past legal bills.

However, Perkins said he would not reimburse the city for work done by the firm to develop the city's Hatch Act compliance program, because he sees that as a city program that is not specific to him.

Mayor Jim Gibson also said it was probably right for the city to pay the previous legal bills.

"Until we got the letter dated Sept. 30 the city was at risk," Gibson said. "The city, on behalf of its taxpayers, had a keen interest in the determination. There was a city interest that predominated."

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