Bill to control feds introduced; sparked by Red Rock shooting

CARSON CITY — A measure aimed at regulating federal law enforcement activities in Nevada and making the sheriff the pre-eminent authority in each county was introduced Friday in the Assembly.

Assembly Bill 283 by Assembly Judiciary Chairman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, seeks to add law enforcement officials with the U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to an existing law restricting federal activities, even on federal lands.

Although the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution is a potential issue with his bill, Hansen said the Federal Land Management Policy Act of 1976 requires federal agencies to work cooperatively with local law enforcement.

“The danger has been that the federal guys have been usurping state laws and starting to enforce speeding tickets,” he said. “That’s what we want to put a stop to.”

Hansen said the genesis of his bill was the shooting death of a Las Vegas man by two federal rangers near Red Rock Canyon in February 2014.

D’Andre Berghardt Jr., 20, was shot and killed Feb. 14 during a confrontation with two BLM rangers while walking along state Route 159 near Calico Basin. The confrontation and subsequent shooting were caught on an onlooker’s cellphone video and showed Berghardt being pepper sprayed and kicked by the rangers before he climbed into a Nevada Highway Patrol vehicle and was shot.

Hansen said he is also seeking a provision requiring cooperation by federal agencies with local sheriffs.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801