Since Joe Lombardo hit the campaign trail last year, crime isn’t the only thing skyrocketing in Clark County. Metro settlements have shot up by millions in the last two years, while the number of claims have more than tripled. And taxpayers are stuck footing the bill for Lombardo’s dereliction as he travels the state asking for a promotion.

Read more below about Lombardo throwing away taxpayer dollars.

Nevada Current: High-profile cases increase Metro settlements in Lombardo’s final term

Dana Gentry

August 17, 2022

• In Joe Lombardo’s first five years as Clark County Sheriff, Las Vegas Metro’s Fiscal Affairs Committee approved an average of $1.1 million in settlements to people alleging wrongdoing by the police and from those involved in auto accidents with Metro. But in the last two years, settlements shot up – to just under $6.5 million last year and almost $5.9 million for the fiscal year ending in July.

• Lombardo began his tenure as sheriff with settlements and judgments averaging below previous years. Fiscal Affairs approved eight payouts in 2015, Lombardo’s first year in office. In 2021, the committee paid 28 settlements. This year through July, Fiscal Affairs has paid 27 claims.  

• “… Mr. Lombardo should explain to voters why he chose to roll the dice with taxpayer funds and why his department so often prefers darkness to government accountability,” the [Review-Journal] wrote in an editorial.  

• The settlement amounts cited in this story do not include Metro’s attorney fees, paid to private law firms contracted to defend the police. In FY 18/19, Metro paid $2.8 million in legal fees; $3.2 million in FY 19/20; $3.4 million in FY 20/21; and $4.1 million in FY 21/22.

• In 2013, then-Clark County Commission chairman and Fiscal Affairs committee member Steve Sisolak, who is now governor and is facing a challenge from Lombardo, told the Las Vegas Sun that Metro could be more transparent about attorney fees, which are not provided to the public, and totaled $3 million in 2012.  

• Stubbs says Metro could prove its interest in accountability by settling cases sooner and avoiding exorbitant legal fees on both sides. The $300,000 settlement he won this year cost Metro $205,029.80 in fees paid to the Kaempfer Crowell law firm for the department’s defense, according to documents obtained by the Current.  

• Settlements and judgments are paid by taxpayers from Metro’s budget. The agency has a self-insured fund to cover some of the costs. The cash balance as of March was $18 million according to the Fiscal Affairs agenda.

Read the full story here. 

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