Top Nevada lawmaker may retire from city job

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 | 9:23 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - The Democratic speaker of Nevada's part-time state Assembly says he's thinking about retiring or taking a leave from his from his full-time job at the Henderson Police Department before the 2005 Legislature convenes next February.

Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said he's considering the options but added Wednesday, "I haven't made a firm decision or anything like that."

"My difficulty is that I love my police work," said Perkins, 42, Henderson's deputy police chief. "I have enjoyed it my entire adult life and I would hate to give it up."

"But I know I'm getting toward the end of my career," he added. "There are other things to consider and (retiring) would be one." Another would be taking a leave of absence during the upcoming session and then returning to the police department once the session ends.

During the 2003 Legislature, Perkins used a combination of sick, holiday and vacation leave with several hours of work each week to collect a full police department paycheck most weeks.

If he retired in February, he'd have to buy 3 1/2 years worth of his retirement benefit to be fully vested, and those payments could run $3,500 a month, he said.

Government watchdog Knight Allen complained last year that Perkins comes under the federal Hatch Act, which prohibits partisan political activity by those who administer federal grant money.

The Henderson Police Department established a Hatch Act compliance program for Perkins in which he doesn't oversee the department's federal money. Perkins said he thought that cleared up the concern although he still hasn't had a final report from federal Office of Special Counsel.

In earlier dealings with the office, which oversees Hatch Act compliance, Perkins said he was told he was OK. But he added there has been "other correspondence that leaves it in doubt."

The office at one point said Perkins would be in willful violation of the Hatch Act if he files again for office.

Perkins also said the office doesn't have final say, and the issue could end up with the federal Merit Service Protection Board for a ruling.

That process aside, Perkins, a likely candidate for governor in 2006, said he's weighing his options because "it's a political thing. I'm apparently a high-profile Democrat and it has become political."

Last week, Attorney General Brian Sandoval issued an opinion saying that state executive branch employees can't dually serve in the Legislature. That opinion affects six employees, including state Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, who said he's resigning from his $187,000-a-year job teaching in the Community College of Southern Nevada's dental program so he can seek re-election.

Perkins is one of three other public employees not covered by Sandoval's opinion because they work for local governments.