Locals file petition to recall Eureka sheriff

Several Eureka residents filed a notice of intent to recall Eureka County Sheriff Jesse Watts on July 22. The notice was signed by Chris Jensen, Shawn Brown and Dennis Gordon.

Now, organizers of the petition are gathering signatures of registered Eureka voters who participated in the 2022 election. To reach their goal, the recall organizers must collect 174 signatures within the 90-day time frame and file their petition with the clerk before the three months are up. Even if they do not collect enough signatures, they will have to file with the clerk within 90 days to avoid being charged with a misdemeanor.

Watts and Amy Jensen, another organizer of the petition, did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the Eureka Sentinel. 

This petition arose after the district attorney’s office paid Spencer Investigations, a private investigation company based in Reno, to look into allegations Watts was said to have made against a Eureka resident. 

According to the investigation report, Watts told an employee a Eureka resident raped a woman in 2019. A witness who was present during the night of the alleged assault, as well as the woman who said she had been assaulted, both told investigators they did not know who this resident was.

Watts was not named as one of the people interviewed in the investigation. In a Facebook post, he called the investigation slanted, but also acknowledged the conversation that sparked the investigation did take place between him and his employee.

If the accusation is proven to be true, Watts could face misdemeanor charges for making false statements in an official capacity. It is illegal in Nevada for a public officer to disclose the identity or likeness of a victim of sexual assault to anyone other than the defendant or the defendant’s attorney; a person who is directly involved in the investigation, prosecution or defense of the case; a person specifically named in a court order or a nonprofit organization or public agency approved to receive the information pursuant. 

Penalties for an official who makes false claims include less than a year in jail and/or $2,000 in fines.

The punishment for identifying a survivor of sexual assault in Nevada is imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, a fine of not more than $1,000 or both a fine and imprisonment, unless the statute in force at the time of commission of such misdemeanor prescribed a different penalty.

The Nevada Commission on Ethics told the Sentinel they could neither confirm nor deny an ongoing investigation.