Henderson police, court deny release of report of officer’s arrest

More than two weeks after a Henderson police officer was arrested, the Henderson Municipal Court and the Henderson Police Department have denied multiple records requests for the arrest report despite routinely releasing the same reports for suspects not affiliated with the agency within days of the arrest.

Tyler Travers, 29, was arrested and charged with domestic battery just before 10 a.m. on Dec. 19, according to jail records. Henderson police sent a statement to the media regarding the arrest seven hours later, just minutes before the department’s office of public information closed for the day.

Police reports for misdemeanors typically go through the Henderson Municipal Court, which has been open only three days since Dec. 19 due to holiday observances. On Monday, the court could make only the one-page docket proving Travers’ arrest available. On Thursday, the court said it had nothing else available.

Henderson police said no other reports for the case would be available until Travers had been adjudicated, but had no estimate when that would be.

“As far as an adjudication or closure of a case, we cannot put a time frame or time limit, as all cases are different,” said officer Katrina Rothmeyer, a spokeswoman for the department.

The Henderson Police Department referred the Review-Journal to the Municipal Court for all paperwork.

Henderson Police Chief Thedrick Andres said Travers’ firearm and “credentials” were taken away the day of the arrest. He was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an administrative investigation, the department said at the time.

The city of Henderson had no information on when the arrest report would be available when contacted on Friday. Kathleen Richards, spokeswoman for the city, could confirm only that Travers would be in court for his criminal arraignment on Jan. 16.

Benjamin Lipman, vice president of legal affairs and general counsel for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, cited the Nevada Public Records Act in calling for the release of the report.

“The public is entitled to these records under the Nevada Public Records Act and the First Amendment. It is concerning that the Henderson Police Department and the Henderson Municipal Court, two government entities on which we all rely to ensure the laws are enforced, seem to willfully violate the law and our rights. They should have immediately made these public records available.”

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.