Nevada ethics commission vacates deferral agreement for Reno council member Devon Reese

The Nevada Commission on Ethics voted on Jan. 16, 2025, to find that Reno City Council member Devon Reese failed to comply with the terms of a deferral agreement he signed in April 2023 and to vacate that agreement, referring the matter for further proceedings before the commission.

The commission’s executive director, Ross Armstrong, told commissioners the review panel had determined there was just and sufficient cause to proceed on a new complaint that included conduct occurring after Reese entered the deferral agreement. “If you don’t do anything in response to that violation ... then Mr. Reese will have no violation in that previous case,” Armstrong said, urging the commission to vacate the agreement so the full commission can decide whether a violation occurred.

The deferral agreement at issue required Reese to complete ethics training, implement a conflicts‑check process, submit disclosures when items involving his firm appeared before a public body, and otherwise comply with Nevada’s ethics law (chapter 281A of the Nevada Revised Statutes). Armstrong told the panel that Reese…