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Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
Assemblyman Steven Brooks office sits empty before the start of the 2013 legislative session Monday, Feb. 4, 2013 in Carson City. Brooks will be sworn in and then take a leave of absence to address medical issues.
Published Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 | 6:22 p.m.
Updated Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 | 7:06 p.m.
Troubled Assemblyman Steven Brooks will be banned from the Legislature on indefinite, paid leave, said Assembly Majority Leader William Horne, who chairs a select committee charged to determine whether Brooks is fit to serve.
An independent counsel will gather information about Brooks and bring a recommendation to the committee, Horne said at the first, brief meeting of the select committee on Monday.
“It is time that we get to the bottom of this so we can move on and do what we’re tasked to do here,” Horne said. “The sooner we get done the better.”
Horne said he hopes the committee can convene again within the next week or two after legislative staff secures the independent counsel. In the meantime, Brooks should receive a letter from Horne banning him from the building and notifying him of the paid administrative leave, Horne said.
The rules governing the committee grant Horne the power to put Brooks on leave with pay, ban him from the building, and restrict him from performing legislative activities, and also waive or change any of the rules he wants.
“No. 1, we are concerned about the safety of people in the legislative buildings as well as his ability to serve,” Horne said in justifying Brooks’ ban from legislative buildings. “It is more than a distraction here. ... It’s taking away from what we are supposed to be doing here.”
The rules also allow Horne to subpoena witnesses and charge them with contempt.
When that investigation has completed and the independent counsel brings recommendations to the committee, Brooks will receive notice and be able to testify before the committee.
Brooks' immediate future at the Legislature is in the hands of seven of his colleagues who comprise the committee.
Democrats Richard Carrillo and Jason Frierson, both from Las Vegas, and Dina Neal of North Las Vegas join Horne to form the majority on the committee. GOP Minority Leader Pat Hickey of Reno, Lynn Stewart of Henderson and Wesley Duncan of Las Vegas round out the rest of the committee.
They will decide whether to recommend expulsion to the full Assembly.
Brooks was arrested on counts of obstructing police and domestic battery on Saturday. Last month, he was arrested for threatening Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick and was found with a gun at the time of his arrest.
In the past month, Brooks has also been detained by police for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation at a Las Vegas hospital. He was in the hospital for five days before being released the week before session.
He earlier made erratic remarks during the first week of the Legislature before announcing he would be taking a leave of absence last week.
Brooks did not show up to the Legislature today and has not been present since this past week, when he announced his leave of absence.
The committee had originally intended to meet next week but moved its first meeting to Monday following Brooks’ latest arrest.
If the select committee decides to expel Brooks from the Legislature, state law says that the Clark County Commission would need to appoint a replacement from the same political party.
But they do not need to be in any hurry to fill the vacancy. Nevada law gives the county commission until the next regular or special session of the Nevada Legislature to make the appointment.
Republicans also sought to bring another matter before the committee. Assemblyman Andrew Martin, D-Las Vegas, was elected in 2012 to a represent a district in which a judge ruled he does not live.
But Assembly Democrats have taken no action against Martin, which has irritated some Republicans.
Stewart asked whether the committee could investigate Martin, and Assemblyman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, was in the audience with a file of documents about Martin in his lap to see whether the committee would have jurisdiction over the case.
The rules of the committee say that the “chair must assign duties for the counsel which must include requiring the counsel to accept complaints and other information concerning members of the Assembly.”
Horne, however, said that the committee’s main duty is to examine and decided whether Brooks is fit to serve in the Legislature and sidelined the Martin issue.
“Should something arise to the level that would be distracting to this level of getting our work done, causing concern about the safety and welfare of the public that comes into the building and the legislators that come into the building, yes, at that time, I will take that into consideration,” he said.
The rules of the committee, which the committee adopted Monday, say that “the special independent counsel must conduct a preliminary investigation of complaints received to determine whether the Committee has jurisdiction over the matter.”
Horne, however, can change the rules anytime he wants. The rules give the committee chairman the power to “waive or suspend any provision of these rules” or make new rules.
Stick a fork in him; he's done.
paid leave,how nice
All while the citizens in district 17 have no representation, such as myself.
I could see the need to do this properly and avoid unintended consequences from Mr. Brooks and his attorney down the road, but it needs to be done swiftly since all of district 17 and NLV have lost representation regardless of it being Brooks or an appointed person. To leave this seat vacant by the county commission until two years from now would be fundamentally wrong since legislators also serve on boards and committees between sessions while back at home.
There is also a question now of whether Mr. Brooks even lives in NLV since he moved one month ago from his addresss of record and the home involved in this recent incident with metro is in las vegas which makes him not eligible to serve besides. Instead of just writng comments to articles we should be contacting the special committee and Legislature who will vote on this, and let them know we deserve to be represented effectively as taxpayers in NLV NOW.
District 17 went big for Brooks and big for Obama. We all pay the price. 'nuff said.
Nice work if you can get it! Why not pay him? After all, it's just taxpayer money. And notice how they protect themselves and let the general public be damned with a nutcase like Brooks free to run around. Little wonder why so many of us hold so many of them (politicians)in disrepute! They are truly beneath contempt!
Paid leave!? What a joke.
Hey District 17, you voted for it, you got it. Next time do your homework.
His pattern so far has been to have an "event" on the weekends so expect another tremblor hit NLV within days.
In a city awash in guns, sooner or later there's going to be some guts on the sidewalk if a judge doesn't intervene and protect the citizenry there.
The assembly has insured its safety but the people of NLV are in mortal danger and no one there seems to give a hoot - not the police, not the courts, not the mental hospitals.
Some additional analysis: http://amicusnevada.wordpress.com/2013/0...
He should have been bounced after his first arrest
Why did they let him swear in now the state has to give this guy a paycheck for being a fruit loop in a suit,hat and cane.