KTNV: Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo settles ethics case over campaign uniform use

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Governor accused of improperly using sheriff's uniform and badge in 2022 campaign agrees to pay fine rather than continue legal battle that reached state Supreme Court

Photo by: TY ONEIL/AP

File - Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo leaves the stage at a groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

By: Steve Sebelius

Posted 2:18 PM, Sep 24, 2025 and last updated 5:19 PM, Sep 24, 2025

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A long-running legal battle that at one point called into question the legality of the Nevada Ethics Commission appears to have ended with a settlement.

WATCH | Lombardo ethics case over campaign uniform use comes to an end

The commission, acting in response to two complaints filed in 2021, accused Gov. Joe Lombardo — a career police officer and two-term elected sheriff — of violating ethics laws by campaigning using pictures and videos of him in uniform or depicting his badge.

Specifically, the commission said the use of government property improperly conferred a benefit on Lombardo as he ran for governor. (Lombardo won the 2022 election.)

Lombardo fought the commission's verdict, and suggested the commission itself might be in violation of the Nevada Constitution's separation of powers doctrine, since four of its eight members are appointed by the Legislature, a separate branch of government.

But that contention will not be litigated now, under a settlement reached between Lombardo's attorneys and the commission on Tuesday.

Under the proposed agreement, Lombardo's conduct in the election will be considered as a single, "non-willful" violation of the state ethics law. The governor will also pay $5,000 to the state general fund to settle the case within 90 days.

The agreement ends a case that wound its way to the Nevada Supreme Court, and was likely headed there again. After a July 2023 hearing, the commission voted 4-2 to charge Lombardo with four willful violations of the law, and imposed a fine of $20,000 along with a public censure.

WATCH | Gov. Lombardo fined $20,000 for ethics violation

Lombardo appealed to the Carson City District Court, where the ethics commission moved to dismiss the case on technical grounds. The court agreed, but Lombardo appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court, which overturned the dismissal and restored the case.

Instead of continuing to litigate, the parties decided to settle, mutually dismissing the appeal of the commission's ruling. "This decision also eliminates the risk of further public resources expended on further potential appeals process and deliberations," the ethics commission said in a news release announcing the settlement.

The Nevada State Democratic Party criticized the governor following the announcement.

“Law and order is nothing but a campaign slogan for Joe Lombardo," said party spokesperson Kate Sosland. "In an attempt to avoid accountability after using his government-issued uniform and badge for personal political gain, Lombardo postponed his ethics hearing, stacked the commission with loyalists, and even tried to abolish the ethics committee altogether. The bottom line: Nevadans deserve a leader who doesn't act above the law.”

But Steve Grammas, president of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the union that represents Metro officers, said the case was more about politics than ethics.

"We are pleased to see a resolution in the politically motivated Lombardo case because we all know the Governor, then sheriff, did nothing wrong," Grammas said in a statement. "We do, however, remain concerned that the ethics commission and the legislature continue to treat first responders with a different and more punitive set of rules than all other government employees. We look forward to working with the commission in the future to rectify this imbalance so everyone, including first responders, are treated equally."