POTTER v. BOARD OF CO. COMM’RS, 92 Nev. 153 (1976)

547 P.2d 681

No. 8211Supreme Court of Nevada.
March 25, 1976 Rehearing denied April 21, 1976

Appeal from the Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County; Paul S. Goldman, J.

Page 154

Affirmed.

Peter L. Flangas, of Las Vegas, for Appellant.

George E. Holt, District Attorney, and Thomas R. Severns, Deputy District Attorney, Clark County, for Respondent.

OPINION
By the Court, THOMPSON, J.:

Upon a plea of nolo contendere, the Nevada Federal Court convicted Delwin C. Potter of the felony of willfully making and subscribing a false income tax return in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1). Potter then held the office of Justice of the Peace, Henderson Township. By reason of that conviction, the County Clerk of Clark County certified to the Board of County Commissioners that the office of Justice of the Peace was vacant, and the Board thereupon declared the office vacant. It was the Clerk’s duty to so certify, and the duty of the Board to so declare.[1] By certiorari Potter unsuccessfully sought review of

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the Board’s action by the district court, and now has appealed to us. We affirm.

It is his contention that his plea of nolo contendere to the felony charge somehow alters the consequences attending his conviction upon that plea.

For the purposes of our law concerning vacancy in a public office, no distinction is drawn between a conviction under a plea of nolo contendere on the one hand, and a conviction under a plea of guilty, or an adjudication of guilt after a plea of not guilty, on the other. It is the conviction of guilt rather than any admission or absence thereof to be implied from the plea that is the disqualifying factor. Sokoloff v. Saxbe, 501 F.2d 571 (2 Cir., 1974); In re Eaton, 152 N.E.2d 850 (Ill. 1958); Kravis v. Hock, 54 A.2d 778 (N.J. 1947); State v. Fousek, 8 P.2d 795 (Mont. 1932).

Other claimed errors possess no merit.

Affirmed.

GUNDERSON, C.J., and BATJER, ZENOFF, and MOWBRAY, JJ., concur.