Esmeralda County sheriff clings to office
The effort continues to remove Esmeralda County Sheriff Nick Dondero.
The Supreme Court-ordered action, according to attorney Robert Glennen III, will be carried out by local authorities at the behest of Nye County Fifth Judicial District Court Judge Kimberly Wanker, who has until May 1 to issue the order.
According to court documents, the ordered removal stems from a 2007 domestic violence conviction, which disqualifies Dondero from serving as a peace officer under current state law.
Glennen III noted that the Nevada Supreme Court issued an order telling their clerk to issue a writ that tells Judge Wanker to issue her own writ that would remove Dondero from office.
“That’s a quo-warranto that she’d have to get it to a cop or some kind of a state agency to serve it on him and he would be gone from office,” Glennen III said. “In the meantime, he has the right to ask the court to re-hear the matter and to issue a stay until they re-hear the matter.” A quo warranto in Nevada asks the court to determine if a person has the legal authority to hold public office.
On January 9, 2024, Dondero appeared before Judge Wanker on civil charges levied by the Nevada attorney general (AG).
The AG asserts that Dondero is not and cannot be qualified to serve as a peace officer in Nevada because he is prohibited by statute.
Specifically, the 2007 sealed misdemeanor domestic violence conviction rendered him ineligible to serve as a peace officer and prohibits certification by POST, the Nevada Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training.
Dondero was elected in November 2022, and took office in January 2023.
POST notified him in August 2023 that he would not be eligible for certification due to the prior conviction.
He did not pursue certification after receiving the letter.
Because Dondero did not obtain POST certification within one year of taking office, the state also cited NRS 248.005, which requires peace officers to be certified or forfeit their position, according to court documents.
Esmeralda County commissioners will discuss and decide on whether to retain Bob Bare to issue a legal opinion as to whether Brian Kunzi Esq., representing Nicholas Dondero as sheriff while also representing Esmeralda County in Nevada Supreme Court Appeal No. 88214 is a conflict of interest, as well as whether the county will continue to employ Kunzi to pursue the re-hearing motions and possible writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case, Aaron Ford vs. Nicholas Dondero.
A writ of certiorari is a formal request for a higher court.
