Commission looks at abolishing Las Vegas Township Constable’s office

Clark County commissioners are set to introduce an ordinance Tuesday that would do away with the troubled Las Vegas Township Constable's office by 2015.

The introduction would be the first step toward abolishing the office and its roughly 25 deputies and turning over some, if not all, of the constable's duties to the Metropolitan Police Department. The board won't vote on the issue Tuesday; a public hearing is expected during the board's March 19 meeting.

But many questions remain, such as whether Sheriff Doug Gillespie wants to inherit the constable's duties, which include serving paperwork and carrying out evictions - or whether efforts by legislators to abolish the office will supersede actions by the board.

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani is spearheading the effort to do away with the office because of the actions of Constable John Bonaventura, who has been widely criticized since elected in 2010.

Giunchigliani is out of the country and couldn't be reached for comment.

Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said he doesn't expect much out of Tuesday's meeting, besides possibly asking county staff to come up with a plan to make the proposal work.

"We definitely need to do something about it," he said. "We did not have a problem (with the office) in the past."

Bonaventura has been involved in a roundly criticized foray into reality television, hit with allegations of sexual harassment, been mired in jurisdictional disputes and criticized for using clever accounting to circumvent Clark County government oversight.

He also has hired deputies with questionable histories that include run-ins with the law. Las Vegas police are investigating Deputy Luis Rendon, who was arrested but not charged on burglary charges in Miami in 2000 and had his license suspended four times, for shooting a dog last month. Rendon is also facing accusations of stalking and harassing the woman who owns the dog.

"I don't think it's in the public's best interests, the situation we have now," Sisolak said.

Bonaventura, in an email, questioned doing away with the office, and wondered how the sheriff would assume the office's duties without additional compensation.

"The constable is now strictly following the law," he wrote. "Are the commissioners being vindictive because the current constable decided that it is long overdue that this office follows the law?"

Under state law, the board couldn't abolish the constable's office until the end of Bonaventura's term, which ends at 12:59 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2015. But two legislators have discussed changing the state law to rein in the state's 14 constables. The details of the proposals are unclear, but Sisolak said Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson wants to introduce legislation that would do away with the office.

If such a measure passed, Bonaventura could be out of office well before 2015.

For commissioners, it wouldn't be the first time the board has abolished the office.

Twenty years ago, former Constable Don Charleboix resigned and pleaded to indictments alleging he sold constable badges and used a "slush fund" financed by his deputies. The board voted to abolish the office and asked the Legislature to make it an appointed position. But lawmakers refused, and the office was re-established in 1995.

While it was abolished, the Metropolitan Police Department's Civil Division, which serves some papers, including restraining orders and protective orders, assumed the constable's duties. But then-Sheriff Jerry Keller was not fond of the idea.

Las Vegas police spokesman Bill Cassell said he wouldn't comment on Gillespie's position on the current proposal because "we're not part of the conversation."

County lawmakers could look to Washoe County for a way to make it work, however.

Authorities there use a mix of sources to carry out the constable's duties. The Washoe County Sheriff's Office does most of the work itself, but some is outsourced to a private company, Deputy Armando Avina said. The Washoe County district attorney's office uses private process servers. Only Incline Village Justice Court still has its own constable, he said.

Sisolak said those arrangements could be discussed at Tuesday's meeting.

"This will clearly get the discussion happening," he said.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-405-9781.