Clark County Commissioners violated ethics law by failing to disclose free F1 tickets

The failure of five Clark County commissioners to fully disclose accepting free tickets to the Las Vegas Grand Prix constitutes a non-willful violation of Nevada’s ethics law, according to an agreement approved by the state ethics commission on Tuesday.

Each county commissioner accepted a ticket or pass worth $10,900 to all four days of events at the inaugural Formula One race in November 2023.

Current Commissioners Jim Gibson, Justin Jones, William McCurdy II and Tick Segerblom, and former Commissioner Ross Miller, who did not seek re-election, did not immediately comment late Tuesday.

The finding of a violation by the Nevada Commission on Ethics stems from commissioners’ failure to disclose accepting tickets when considering items on the County Commission agenda that would affect the Las Vegas Grand Prix, according to a stipulated agreement.

“There was no self-reporting, prompt correction, or request for an advisory opinion by County Commissioners,” the agreement states.

However, county commissioners listed the tickets on either their financial disclosure statements or their contribution and expense reports filed with the Nevada secretary of state. Furthermore, county commissioners had “legitimate government purposes, including ceremonial and educational goals,” for attending Grand Prix events in their public positions.

“Additionally, County Commissioners are committed to advocating systemic changes as Clark County to increase the transparency and compliance surrounding the receipt and use of event gifts,” according to the agreement.

As part of the agreement, county commissioners agreed to work with county management to establish a county ethics officer with the authority of an assistant county manager to oversee ethics education and compliance. These responsibilities cannot be assigned to an existing position.

County commissioners also agreed to establish an event attendance policy that applies to county commissioners and county leadership to ensure “attendance at these types of events is narrowly tailored to ceremony or education and provides suitable guidance in future such instances.”

In June, the ethics commission determined that the head of the state’s energy office had committed a willful violation of ethics statutes by accepting free Golden Knights tickets and other perks while negotiating a potential sponsorship deal with the NHL franchise. The agreement resolving that complaint included a $1,000 penalty, an admonishment and a requirement for energy office director Dwayne McClinton and office staff to receive ethics training.

Last year, Kelvin Watson, the executive director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District who accepted free Super Bowl tickets, was required by the ethics commission to implement ethics training for himself and his staff.

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on X. Staff writer Ricardo Torres-Cortez contributed to this report.