Metro ordered to pay $86K in fees in Lombardo email lawsuit

A judge ordered the Metropolitan Police Department to pay about $86,000 in attorney fees and costs in relation to a lawsuit filed accusing Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo of using his government cellphone to send campaign emails to political consultants.

Metro must pay the plaintiff, Due Diligence Group LLC, $86,284 in attorneys fees, Judge Maria Gall ordered Oct. 19. The court awarded $26,860 for the work performed by the group’s Nevada attorneys and $58,203.75 for work its national attorneys did. It also awarded $1,221.15 in court costs.

“A significant issue in this litigation — perhaps the significant issue — concerned whether the LVMPD had failed to disclose all emails between Sheriff Lombardo and his campaign consultants that constituted public records,” Gall wrote in the order.

“There can be no reasonable dispute that the Group prevailed on that issue and by doing so achieved at least some of the benefit it sought in bringing this lawsuit,” Gall wrote.

Due Diligence Group, an opposition research firm, had requested a swath of emails written by Lombardo on his county-issued phone and sent to two political consultants. The judge denied most of the request, saying the plain meaning of “public record” does not include emails that are personal.

But four emails that pertain to public business were considered public and must be disclosed to the group, Gall had ruled in August.

Due Diligence Group’s attorneys had argued that Lombardo violated the law by sending personal emails on a government device during work hours, but Gall made no finding as to whether any violations occurred.

As previously reported by the Review-Journal, the police department’s manual prohibits employees from using equipment for political reasons.

“Largely sent from his personal devices, Sheriff Lombardo’s occasional emails to campaign staff are neither noteworthy nor significant, nor do they present any conflict with state ethics law,” said Lombardo’s campaign spokesperson Elizabeth Ray in a statement.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on Twitter.