Guinn says Augustine will continue to work

Monday, July 12, 2004 | 10:28 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Despite being charged with an ethics violation that could get her thrown out of office, state Controller Kathy Augustine will be at work every day, Gov. Kenny Guinn says.

Guinn, who spoke with Augustine on Thursday about the allegations that she had employees work on her campaign, said he was concerned that the state's accounting system continue to function during this "tough situation."

"We had a good conversation," Guinn said. "She has to go through a process, but also we have a process we have to follow through in state government and she was very positive toward that and very cooperative and is coming to work every day."

Guinn said he knows the allegations are a distraction for Augustine but said he wanted to make sure "we're doing the state's business because it's an important area for us in terms of paying our bills and getting our receipts in the right place."

Despite one newspaper report to the contrary, Augustine was in her Carson City office Thursday and Friday and was expected to attend Tuesday's meeting of the state Board of Finance, of which she is a member.

Augustine has refused to comment since the state attorney general's office filed a complaint Wednesday with the Ethics Commission. The complaint alleges that she used her office staff for campaign work during office hours in the last election.

She has referred all questions to her lawyer, John Arrascada of Reno.

The attorney general's office said Augustine intends to stipulate to a willful violation of the state's ethics code. If the Ethics Commission finds a willful violation, it must turn the case over to the Legislature for an impeachment procedure.

Since there's never been an impeachment in Nevada, Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, said his staff is looking at how the federal government and other states handle such matters.

Standard procedures would call for the Assembly to file articles of impeachment, similar to a grand jury indictment. And then there would be a trial in the Senate to determine whether Augustine should be removed from office.

Malkiewich said an impeachment trial could include startup costs of $60,000 and then about $30,000 more a day. Salaries for the lawmakers alone total $13,500 a day. Lawmakers earn $130 per day and $85 for living expenses.

To save money, Malkiewich says the Assembly could meet without the Senate in session to decide whether or not to issue articles of impeachment. Once that task is accomplished, the Senate would come into session and the Assembly could go home. The Senate would hold the trial and decide the punishment, if any.

The proceedings could occur when the 2005 Legislature convenes in February or in a special session.

Guinn would decide whether to call a special session.

A special session would halt incumbent legislators who are running for office from raising money for their campaigns. State law prohibits legislators from collecting campaign contributions for a maximum of 15 days before the session, during the session and 15 days after adjournment.

Guinn noted that if Augustine is found guilty of a willful violation, the whole process could come right in the middle of the election and right "in the midst of a budget-building process," followed by the regular session, which falls in February.

Asked about the possibility of a special session, Guinn said, "I think you would have to see the timing on everything." He added that the Ethics Commission has a backlog of cases and will appear before the state Board of Examiners Tuesday to ask for $101,000 in an emergency appropriation to hire more help to get caught up.

At the outside, the Ethics Commission would have until sometime in October to make a decision on the Augustine case, though Arrascada said he wants to move the case along quickly.

It's possible, too, that all the controversy could generate another move to eliminate the office of controller and meld its duties into the office of state treasurer. The Assembly Ways and Means Committee introduced a proposed constitutional amendment in 2003 to abolish the controller's position and have the treasurer act as ex-officio controller. The resolution never made it out of committee.