Las Vegas Officials Face Ethics Probe for Accepting Free F1 Tix

Posted on: June 26, 2024, 11:35h. 

Last updated on: June 26, 2024, 02:04h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

At least four Clark County commissioners are under investigation by the Nevada Commission on Ethics for accepting free tickets to last year’s inaugural F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. The tickets sold for $10,900 each.

Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom is one of five Clark County commissioners who accepted free tickets from Formula 1 to its inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix last year. (Image: KLAS-TV/Las Vegas)

On Tuesday, commissioner Tick Segerblom posted to Twitter the letter he received from the ethics commission. Ross Miller, Justin Jones, and Jim Gibson then confirmed to the R-J that they had received similar notices.

The complaints, filed on June 12, accuse the commissioners of violating a Nevada law prohibiting state employees from accepting gifts or using their position in government to secure privileges unnecessary to fulfill their jobs.

According to the R-J, all seven members of the Clark County Commission, the Las Vegas Strip’s governing body, received an offer from F1 for a free ticket to the race’s Skybox area.

Commissioners Marilyn Kirkpatrick and Michael Naft declined. Segerblom, Jones, Miller, Gibson, and William McCurdy accepted the offer.

McCurdy didn’t confirm to the R-J whether he was also under investigation.

In January, Segerblom described attending the race to the R-J as “educational.”

The county — its employees and residents — made the event happen and suffered lots of adverse consequences as a result,” he told the newspaper. “If we’re going to keep doing it for nine more years, we need to learn everything we can.”

McCurdy echoed Tegerblom’s sentiment, stating that it would have been “irresponsible for us to not see how it works.”

Segerblom was the only commissioner who attended the race without listing the tickets on his financial disclosure report. So, according to the R-J, his complaint also charges him with insufficiently disclosing the gift.

Segerblom told the R-J that he filed an amended report in January to include the ticket, listing it under a section for reporting meetings, events, or trips.

The Nevada Commission on Ethics is an eight-member panel appointed by the governor and legislative commission to investigate ethics violations by state government officials and employees.