The state’s top political ethics panel has cleared the Storey County Sheriff of any campaigning violations.
The Nevada Commission on Ethics opted not to open a formal hearing into a pair of complaints filed last year against Sheriff Gerald Antinoro.
The complaints allege the sheriff gained an unfair campaign advantage by appearing in uniform at debates, parades and other public appearances during his successful 2018 re-election campaign.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports ethics commissioners said those appearances did create the perception of impropriety but fell short of breaking the law.
The panel agreed that Antinoro is no longer entitled to campaign with a badge and that he must not use his position to secure campaign advantages for himself.
Antinoro also survived a 2017 recall election held under a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations. Former Attorney General Adam Laxalt concluded those claims against the sheriff did not amount to findings of criminal offenses.