Sheriff seeks Ethics Commission opinion on endorsements

"If their opinion is I shouldn't do it, then I won't do it again," Kirkland told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The Ethics Commission is scheduled to hear the issue Sept. 18.

Kirkland is not only popular with voters, but apparently with other candidates and politicians eager to tout his seal of approval.

Kirkland himself is unopposed for re-election this fall. But he has publicly endorsed more than a dozen other candidates for various offices.

In one television commercial, Kirkland lauds his inmate work crews while endorsing Washoe District Court judge candidate James Hardesty.

A brochure shows Kirkland standing beside Reno City Council candidate Chuck Schembri in front of the Washoe County Jail.

Kirkland says he's just trying to help elect good people to office.

But some critics say his endorsements teeter on conflict.

Among those who have gotten Kirkland's endorsement are Republican county commissioners Joanne Bond, Mike Mouliot and Sue Camp. Camp lost to Tom O'Mara in the Sept. 1 Republican primary.

Former Reno Mayor Pete Sferrazza, who is seeking a seat on the Washoe County Commission, said Kirkland is helping to decide who will control the sheriff's budget.

Sferrazza said he may ask the ethics panel to settle the conflict of interest issue over Kirkland's endorsement of county commissioners.

"It's the good ol' boy system," Sferrazza said. "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine. And what's getting exchanged is public money."

Kirkland said he asked the Nevada Attorney General's Office for an opinion on endorsements and was told they are protected under his First Amendment right to free speech.

But the attorney general's office also said a public official's use or misuse of office resources and accouterments can only be decided on a case-by-case basis. Kirkland said he will ask the Ethics Commission to decide the issue in public.

By endorsing candidates for city, county and state governments, the Reno Gazette-Journal said Kirkland would also have key supporters lined up if efforts to consolidate area law enforcement agencies moves forward.

Kirkland denied having any ulterior motives.

"I'm not up to anything. I'm not posturing for any other office. I'm not posturing for consolidation," he said, adding that his only purpose is to help those candidates he believes are best for the job.

"Not many people are in the position I'm in to see the prosecutors, judges and legislators at work," he said.

Other candidates Kirkland has endorsed are Republican Kenny Guinn for governor; state Sens. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, and Bernice Martin-Mathews, D-Reno; Assemblywoman-elect Dawn Gibbons, R-Reno; GOP Assembly candidate Greg Brower; Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin; Reno Justice of the Peace John Kadlic and Justice of the Peace candidate Hal Albright.

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