Horne: Plan is to recommend action on Brooks by end of next week

The full Assembly could consider what to do with Assemblyman Steven Brooks by the end of next week, Majority Leader William Horne, who is chairing the select committee looking into the banished assemblyman, said this morning.

"We want to get this off our plate," Horne told me. "We don't want to have this out there and interfering with the legislative process."

Horne said the report from an independent counsel is expected very sooon (Friday, perhaps?) and that some of the information already has been transmitted. Horne also told me a couple of more interesting aspects of the case:

---He plans to convene the select panel late next week, after hours (so as to not conflict with regular legislative meetings) and probably in the Carson City courthouse (first reported on Twitter by News 3's MacKenzie Warren). He wouldn't say so explicitly, but lawmakers must be concerned about Brooks (or anyone else) bringing weapons into the building. That's much easier to control at a facility already set up for such a purpose.

"There are safety and security concerns," he said. "They are used to doing it with scanners. It's a safer place to do it."

---Part of the hearing may be closed to the public. Horse said if the committee receives personnel (from the city of Las Vegas) and/or medical records, Brooks' privacy must be considered. But, Horne said, Brooks could also insist it all be open. 

I still think the odds favor the Assembly expelling Brooks. But I also believe this will not happen smoothly as he could very well challenge the result.

The Supreme Court already is considering whether Brooks was properly banned from the building. But while lawmakers may not have such a strong case for the banishment, expulsion is defined in the Constitution and simply requires a two-thirds vote.

Fasten your seat belts....

(By the way, this will cost very little.)