By james art 
The Nevada Commission on Ethics voted unanimously last week to rescind a plea deal granted to Reno City Councilman Devon Reese.
An ethics complaint filed in 2023 alleges a failure to disclose information related to employment contracts when Reese was an attorney at Hutchison & Steffen. The office represents labor collectives whose members work for the city.
No findings were made to substantiate the complaint and the ethics committee decided it was best to deal with a deferment agreement.
Under the agreement, Reese had to comply with ethics laws for two years.
Two new complaints were filed in March and April 2024, alleging that Reese submitted “false, fraudulent expense reports” to the city for personal travel.
An Ethics Commission review panel issued an opinion in September, concluding there was “credible evidence” to investigate the complaints further. He found no evidence for the claims.
Ethics Commission Executive Director Ross Armstrong argued that the new complaints violate the deferral’s compliance requirement.
“I’m asking you to … say out loud today that you cannot be on a standstill agreement and violate the ethics law and have nothing happen as a result,” Armstrong told the committee.
Reno City Attorney Jonathan Shipman told the commission that the new complaints are merely allegations, so they will not violate the agreement. Shipman said he is not representing Reese on behalf of the city.
However, the commission concluded that Reese violated his agreement by receiving the additional ethics complaints. Chairman Scott Scherer said there must be “consequence.”
Asked for a response, Reese told RGJ: “It will be looked at in due course. I hope the committee will look into it,” adding that he could not comment further.
Reese will face the commission’s review of all three complaints later this year.
Jaedyn Young covers local government for the Reno Gazette-Journal. Her salaries are 100% funded by donations and grants; If you want to see more stories like this, please consider donating to RGJ.com/donate. Send your story ideas and feedback to Jaedyn at [email protected].