Henderson Deputy Police Chief Richard Perkins -- a likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate -- was paid by the city for four days while working as a lawmaker in Carson City, according to records obtained by the Sun.
City officials, who learned of the issue after the Sun asked about it, have since charged Perkins, the Assembly speaker, with vacation days or leave without pay for those four days.
Perkins did not take $130 a day state pay he was eligible for, said Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.
Perkins called it an "honest mistake" and said he took full responsibility for the error. City officials called it a "clerical error."
Perkins said he couldn't recall the details of what happened on the four days the time cards were incorrect, but he said it was obviously a "miscommunication" between him and the administrative secretary for the police chief, who fills out pay sheets for management staff.
He called the mistakes isolated and said there were no similar time sheet problems in previous years serving in the Assembly.
"I thought I was being very careful, but unfortunately there were a couple of errors," said Perkins, who called it his responsibility to monitor his pay. "We are from the human race and unfortunately we make mistakes. It is an honest mistake. It's been corrected, and we are moving on."
Three of the four days Perkins mistakenly drew his full city pay of $637 a day for 9.5 hours of work in January when he was in Carson City for legislative duties before the start of the session, according to records the Sun obtained from Henderson and the Legislative Counsel Bureau.
The fourth day in question was a one-day special session on June 7 when Perkins slammed the gavel down to close the session at 12:38 p.m. after lawmakers worked more than 29 hours straight.
During that time he was incorrectly credited with working a full day in Henderson, city pay records show.
Corrected city pay records now show one paid full vacation day, two paid partial vacation days and one day of leave without pay.
Interim Police Chief James White declined to comment as did the administrative secretary who kept the pay records. Henderson Police spokesman Keith Paul called the discrepancies "clerical errors" that have been corrected.
After the Sun pointed out the discrepancies between the time cards and Perkins' state travel records, Assistant City Manager Mark Calhoun said he told the Human Resources Department and police department to talk with Perkins and staff, find out what happened and correct the errors. He said the matter is closed and that no one faces discipline for the mistakes.
Time card
As a management employee, Perkins doesn't fill out his own time card for the 38-hour work week, Calhoun acknowledged. That responsibility falls to the administrative secretary of the chief, who is told by the employee of their work, vacation or leave status, he said.
Former Police Chief Michael Mayberry, who retired in April, would have reviewed the January pay sheets, and White would have reviewed the June time sheet, Calhoun said. The police chief authorizes vacation and other time off, he said.
In the case of crediting Perkins with regular pay for June 7, Calhoun said the secretary couldn't recall what Perkins told her to list on the time sheets. She assumes she made a mistake by putting down regular pay, Calhoun said. The city has now classified the day as Perkins taking leave without pay.
"He told her what to do, and she entered it," Calhoun said. "I don't know what he told her or didn't tell her, but she assumes she put in the wrong numbers."
Perkins said he often communicated with the secretary by phone and e-mail when it came to her filling out his time sheets. He said he was supposed to have been back working in Henderson on June 7, but he said he doesn't sit next to the secretary and she wouldn't necessarily know he was in Carson City for a one-day special session.
According to city records and Perkins' travel documents he submitted to the Legislative Counsel Bureau, the other dates in question were:
On Jan. 3, Perkins also was credited with working a full day for the city even though he was in Carson City that day for a legislative staff orientation. That day has not been corrected by the city, however. Perkins said he received permission from Mayberry to work Tuesday through Friday that week instead of the normal schedule of Monday through Thursday.
During the regular session that ran from Feb. 7 through June 6, Perkins did not receive any regular full-time pay from the city under a policy enacted in 2004. Instead, Perkins, used 52 vacation days and took 12 days of leave without pay, primarily at the end of the session, city officials said. On the first three days of session of Feb. 7 through Feb. 9, Perkins used administrative leave pay, which are also called personal days, officials said.
Vacation leave
Perkins, who recently returned from a trip to Europe, had 163 hours of vacation leave through the end of July, according to Ted Cooper, Henderson's manager of employment and compensation. Perkins, who accrues 15.83 hours a month of vacation time -- about five weeks a year -- based on his 21 years of service with the city, accrued one week of bonus leave time by using one sick day or less, Cooper said. Perkins also earns four personal days a year.
Perkins received regular pay during two holidays, President's Day and Memorial Day, when administrative offices are closed.
In sessions prior to 2005, Perkins collected city paychecks as a legislator by using 19 hours a week of personal and vacation leave and by putting in 19 hours of his 38-hour work week, primarily when he returned home on weekends but also in Carson City at the end of the day, Mayberry said in March.
As a senior salaried manager, Perkins worked well over his required hours, Mayberry said.
Henderson changed its policy in March 2004 to avoid the controversy of the 2003 legislative session when several Assembly members were criticized for receiving pay for their government jobs in Las Vegas and Clark County while the Legislature was in session. The accusations included employees using sick time.
The Henderson policy no longer allows employees like Perkins to work weekends or count time working for the department in Carson City during the legislative session. Perkins can only work Monday through Thursday when the department's administrative offices are open, generally from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m..
Calhoun maintains that policy applies to the regular session only and that it would have been up to Mayberry to allow Perkins to work a different shift in January prior to the start of the session.
He said management staff such as Perkins are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and that Perkins likely worked extra during the New Year's holiday weekend for which he didn't receive extra pay.
Perkins, who has served in the Assembly since 1993, became deputy chief under Mayberry in 2000. He is responsible for police operations, overseeing a captain of investigations and two patrol captains.
Perkins said it's not unusual to work 60 to 70 hours a week and that he did nothing wrong by taking off Monday and working Friday. He cited an example of last Friday when police staff went to a coroner's inquest on their day off and will get another day off in return.
Past controversy
Perkins' employment with the city has generated controversy in the past. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is investigating Perkins on a complaint he violates the federal Hatch Act by serving in the Legislature. The act disallows federal and some local employees who deal with federal money from holding public office. Perkins has said he will ultimately be cleared.
Perkins, whose city salary of $132,487 a year was bumped up in July to $137,124 as part of a cost-of-living increase, earned $7,800 for the first 60 days of the Assembly. He earns $130 a day for each day of a special session.
Perkins, who has opened a campaign office in a bid for governor, said an announcement of his political plans will be made in the next two weeks.
"It would be a mistake for somebody to think I am not running," Perkins said.
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