A Nevada judge found South Lake Tahoe Mayor Cody Bass guilty of misdemeanor harassment on Thursday, closing out a bench trial tied to his arrest outside a Stateline bar last September while acquitting him of a related trespassing charge. Bass is due back in Tahoe Justice Court on September 1 for sentencing, a date that lands just weeks before his city council term is set to expire in November.
Judge Richard Glasson delivered the split verdict after the bench trial in Tahoe Justice Court, according to South Tahoe Now. The Douglas County District Attorney's Office had filed misdemeanor counts for trespassing and harassment following Bass's arrest, though an initial assault charge tied to the incident was dropped, according to CBS Sacramento.
The case traces back to a confrontation outside AleWorX in Stateline on September 25, 2025. Per CBS Sacramento's report, arrest video obtained by the Tahoe Daily Tribune shows Bass walking past the bar before stopping to talk to a doorman, with the two men gesturing aggressively toward each other before the doorman kicked toward Bass. Bass has said he never entered AleWorX and stepped back after the doorman kicked toward him.
Who Called 911, and What Deputies Found
Bass himself placed the initial 911 call, reporting what he described as battery after he said he was kicked, according to Douglas County Sheriff's Office records cited by the same South Tahoe Now report. But after reviewing video footage from the scene, responding deputies told Bass they believed he was the aggressor, and the Douglas County District Attorney's Office ultimately said he was found guilty of harassment rather than the party who was wronged.
Defense attorney Adam Spicer said Bass will appeal the verdict, arguing it did not align with the evidence presented at trial. Spicer had noted during the proceedings that the security guard's initial statements to police did not explicitly say he feared for his safety during the encounter, the outlet's account states.
As part of his bail conditions, Bass must abstain from alcohol and marijuana, avoid any contact with the security guard involved in the dispute, and stay out of the stretch of Stateline between the state line and Kahle Drive — an area that borders South Lake Tahoe directly.
A Mayorship Born of Turmoil
Bass was appointed mayor in October 2025 following weeks of political turmoil and public calls for stability, stepping into the role while still serving as mayor pro tem at the time of his arrest weeks earlier. The appointment came after then-Mayor Tamara Wallace resigned amid her public confession to embezzling more than $300,000 from Lake Tahoe Presbyterian Church, where she worked as a bookkeeper, a crisis Hoodline covered in its report on the church embezzlement fallout at the time.
In her resignation email, Wallace publicly urged Bass to step down as mayor pro tem because of his pending Nevada charges, a demand Bass rejected while maintaining his innocence and insisting he would wait for his day in court, according to CBS News. The city council later voted 4-1 in January to retain Bass as mayor for 2026, with Councilmember Scott Robbins casting the lone dissenting vote over concerns tied to the pending case. During that January meeting, Bass told the council he would step down if he were proven guilty.
Sentencing Exposure and What Comes Next
Under Nevada Revised Statute 200.571, a first-offense harassment conviction carries up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both — the maximum exposure Bass now faces at his September 1 sentencing. It remains an open question whether Bass will follow through on his January pledge to resign if convicted, or whether he will stay in office while Spicer pursues the appeal.
Bass, who first won a council seat in November 2018 and was reelected in November 2022, founded and owns Tahoe Wellness Center, a medical and recreational cannabis dispensary he opened in 2009, and he also serves on the board of the National Cannabis Industry Association, according to California Local. His council term expires in November 2026, meaning the sentencing date and the end of his elected tenure now sit close together on the calendar.
This is not Bass's first brush with law enforcement in the region. He was arrested by the California Highway Patrol in September 2021 near the Meyers Agricultural Station on suspicion of DUI, during which officers reported finding suspected cocaine and methamphetamine in his vehicle, according to KTVN, which reported that arrest occurred during his first term on the city council.
