Reno City Council member Devon Reese must comply with a handful of orders handed down by the Nevada Ethics Commission after the cause was found
in a complaint filed last year alleging he violated a handful of state ethics laws. 

The complaint alleges Reese did not disclose business relationships with several employee union groups, and he did not recuse himself from contract negotiations with those groups or vote to approve those contracts. 

As a result, Reese has to participate in ethics training, develop a process to disclose and abstain from council activities related to his office’s clients and submit Reno City Council meeting minutes referencing issues or clients related to the law firm he works for the next two years. 

If Reese doesn’t meet these requirements or has another ethics violation within the next two years, the commission will repeal the deferral agreement and may pursue additional action. 

The five ethics laws cited in the complaint include using a government position to favor an entity with which he has a financial interest, participating in those negotiations for which he has a financial interest, insufficiently disclosing his interests in those negotiations or discussions, and not abstaining from the discussions and votes. 

The Ethics Commission ruled there was sufficient evidence that Reese violated state ethics laws for failing to disclose financial interests when representing or counseling in an official matter — and for failing to abstain from an official matter in which he has a financial interest.