Storey County says it followed rules in getting old NHP cars

Storey County Sheriff Pat Whitten and his chief mechanic say they followed the rules in getting surplus Nevada Highway Patrol vehicles, and the county made no profit in turning some of them over to other agencies.

On Tuesday, testimony before the Assembly Ways and Means Committee had indicated the county was given 54 old Highway Patrol vehicles between October 2000 and August 2001.

"I take strong offense at the quote from (NHP Col. David) Hosmer that when some vehicles are transferred to other agencies, we should have paid the money back to the state," Whitten said Wednesday. "We received no money for them at all."

Noble Brookins, a Storey planning commissioner and the mechanic who arranged the surplus deal, backed up Whitten by saying, "We never got a dime."

Brookins said he asked the state about obtaining the vehicles on Whitten's behalf. He presented an inter-local agreement authorizing the transfer of surplus vehicle titles to Storey County for no cost. The agreement was signed in April 1999 by Nevada Highway Patrol Maj. John Bawden and Deputy Attorney General Mariah Sugden -- both of whom have since left those positions.

"If someone broke the rules, it wasn't us," he said.

Brookins said Storey County never got all 54 vehicles. He presented a list showing that at least 15 went to other local and state agencies -- including the state departments of Agriculture and Corrections, as well as a couple sent back to the Nevada Highway Patrol and Nevada Division of Investigations.

Local agencies on the list include Esmeralda County Sheriff's Office and school police in Storey and Washoe counties.

Whitten said one vehicle, a Camaro, was spruced up into a DARE drug-education vehicle.

Brookins challenged Deputy Public Safety Director Dave Kieckbusch's claim that "We had, basically, supervising mechanics signing off titles" to the vehicles.

"Every title I got was signed by a major," said Brookins.

Whitten said Storey County has had to put a good deal of money and labor into those vehicles to get them in good running condition.

"They aren't all in good shape," said Whitten. "We've put in four or five transmissions in units we maintained for ourselves, so the 'well maintained' part I would question."

The transfers of the vehicles at no cost were questioned during an Assembly Ways and Means hearing Tuesday. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said the Highway Fund should have been reimbursed for the value of the vehicles.

Kieckbusch and Hosmer said the vehicles were given to Storey County in violation of state rules and that, because federal Highway Fund money was involved, the federal government is investigating.

Kieckbusch said the deals were discovered and halted "shortly after" he and Public Safety Director Dick Kirkland were appointed to their positions. Kirkland took office in May 2000 and the transfers continued until August 2001.

Whitten made it clear he and other local agencies are grateful for the vehicles. But both he and Brookins said they want to make clear that the county and the other local agencies were not guilty of any rule violations in getting them.

"We went through the Attorney General's Office," said Brookins. "They told us once we had title, we could do anything we wanted with them."

Whitten said his department kept a number of the vehicles for patrol duty, as well as several Ford Explorers with four-wheel drive to handle duties in Storey County's rougher terrain. Two more are being used by Storey County administration officials and three others by the county Public Works Department.