Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill is back in the law enforcement databases he had been locked out of, after County Manager Brett Waggoner ordered his access restored this week following a state audit that found more than 100 searches made without proper documentation. The reinstatement closes one chapter of an ongoing dispute over how McGill's office used the Nevada Criminal Justice Information System.
According to Las Vegas Review-Journal, Waggoner made the reinstatement decision this week. McGill said Nye County IT Director Brad Adams had initially restricted his database access, and he suggested earlier this week that he remained blocked for political reasons; Adams did not respond to requests for comment on that claim. The databases in question include criminal histories, DMV files, and warrants.
What the State Audit Uncovered
The Nevada Department of Public Safety's compliance audit examined database search logs, reviewing four years of queries made by McGill and separately expanding the review to 15 sheriff's deputies, according to the Review-Journal. State investigators ultimately found that sheriff's office employees failed to properly document 102 searches for people's personal information. McGill has said all the searches he personally made served legitimate law enforcement purposes, and his campaign said he was not being investigated for violating the law.
Misuse can possibly result in a misdemeanor charge, while administrative rules governing the state's criminal justice system mandate strict agency security controls, per the Nevada Criminal Justice Information System. Unauthorized access can also trigger sanctions from state and federal officials, including the potential loss of database access altogether. McGill has said his office remains fully cooperative with the state and intends to keep it that way.
Sorget's Records Requests
John Sorget, a local citizen journalist who runs the YouTube channel Save Nye County, filed public-records requests after threats referencing a sealed juvenile case, according to the Pahrump Valley Times. Sorget had already sued Nye County and McGill in federal court in March, alleging the sheriff improperly accessed his protected criminal database records and shared confidential law enforcement details after Sorget criticized police conduct online. The lawsuit alleges database access and disclosure after Sorget criticized police conduct online.
Internal email records from the sheriff's office showed that an employee had previously warned agency leadership about questionable database searches targeting online critics, local media members, and political opponents, according to KNPR. McGill has maintained that all the searches served legitimate investigative purposes despite the missing documentation. In May, McGill's campaign publicly acknowledged that state authorities were investigating allegations the sheriff's office abused the FBI-connected database system to look up political opponents.
Corrective Action Plan Keeps Oversight Running
Under a corrective action plan, state officials ordered the sheriff's office to retrain employees, update policies for employees and top officials, maintain monthly internal audit logs, and sit in on quarterly oversight meetings with the Department of Public Safety. The arrangement keeps compliance under ongoing scrutiny.
McGill spent 26 years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department before retiring in 2013. He took office as sheriff in January 2023. The database dispute now sits alongside other recent scrutiny of the department, including Hoodline's prior report on a deputy's Las Vegas chase that remains under departmental review.
