Commissioners refuse to pay for bond constable put up to sue other agencies

County commissioners on Tuesday refused to help pay for Las Vegas Township Constable John Bonaventura's lawsuit against two other constables' offices.

Commissioners were bothered that Bonaventura, who has been embroiled in controversy since his 2010 election, didn't seek their approval before suing the constables of Laughlin and Henderson.

"I have a real problem going forward with this," Commissioner Mary Beth Scow said. "We don't want to encourage one public body to take legal action against another."

Bonaventura filed the lawsuit to stop the other two constables from jumping across their borders to serve papers in Las Vegas. Although Bonaventura's annual salary is set at about $100,000, his deputies and the other 10 township constables in Clark County make money based on how much business - such as serving subpoenas and handling evictions - they carry out.

District Court Judge Ron Israel sided with him last month, granting a preliminary injunction stopping the other two constables from hopping borders. But to activate the injunction, Bonaventura had to post a $100,000 bond. If he loses the lawsuit on appeal, the bond could pay for any losses the Laughlin and Henderson constables suffered during the injunction.

Paying the bond required paying a $2,000 fee. When county officials refused to pay the fee, Bonaventura appealed to commissioners, who unanimously rejected it Tuesday.

He didn't just follow the wrong protocol, officials said: Normally a county official would go through the district attorney's office or the commissioners before filing a lawsuit.

There was confusion over how he presented himself in the lawsuit. He didn't file it on behalf of his office; he filed it on behalf of "Constable John Bonaventura, an individual," and he asked the other constables to pay him damages if he won.

The constable now will pay the $2,000 out of his own pocket, and he will return to the commissioners for the money when the lawsuit is upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court, spokesman Lou Toomin said. "We're going to prevail in the long run," Toomin said.

Bonaventura's lawyers told commissioners he was only asking for the money to carry out a court order.

"Mr. Bonaventura's sole desire is to see that the statute is upheld and the constables run their business ... within the statute in their own townships," lawyer Spencer Judd said.

Bonaventura, a former state assemblyman, ousted longtime Las Vegas Township Constable Robert "Bobby G" Gronauer two years ago. He has since made headlines over a controversial pilot for a reality show, and a lawsuit has been filed by two former high-ranking deputies who say they lost their job after they refused to lie to commissioners about the show.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.