Nevada Supreme Court declares Clark County proper venue for fake electors case, overturns dismissal

Update, November 13, 2025:

The Nevada Supreme Court has decided that Clark County is the proper and lawful venue to prosecute Nevada's fake elector case.

The case places forgery charges against six Nevada Republicans who were accused of submitting a bogus certificate that declared President Donald Trump the winner of the state's 2020 presidential election.

Officials have said the defendants' actions were part of a larger scheme across seven battleground states to keep President Trump in the White House after losing to President Biden.

The Supreme Court's decision reverses a decision by the Eighth Circuit District Court dismissing the case.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford issued a statement on the decision.

"Today the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed what we have maintained all along – that Clark County is the proper and lawful venue to prosecute our case, and I am pleased with the court’s decision to overturn the District Court’s dismissal of our case in Clark County," said Ford. "The 2020 fake electors cannot evade accountability in Nevada for their unlawful actions. As attorney general, it is my duty to hold those who sought to undermine the results of our state’s free and fair election responsible. With this ruling, we will return to the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County and continue our work to ensure that justice is served."

Update, October 27, 2025:

The six people accused of submitting false electoral certificates following the 2020 presidential election all pleaded not guilty on Monday.

Michael James McDonald, James Walter DeGraffenreid III, Jesse Reed Law, Durward James Hindle III, Shawn Michael Meehan and Eileen A. Rice appeared in a Carson City courtroom to be formally charged.

All their trials will now start in July. If convicted, they each face up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

Update, July 23, 2025:

The Nevada Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments next month in a case involving six people accused of submitting false electoral certificates following the 2020 presidential election.

Oral arguments are scheduled for August 6 at 11:00 a.m. in Carson City. The hearing stems from an appeal filed by Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford after a Clark County District Court judge dismissed the criminal indictments in June, citing improper venue.

The six defendants, Michael James McDonald, James Walter DeGraffenreid III, Jesse Reed Law, Durward James Hindle III, Shawn Michael Meehan, and Eileen A. Rice, are each charged with offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument, both felonies under Nevada law.

They are alleged to have falsely declared Donald Trump the winner of Nevada’s electoral votes and submitted a document titled “Certificate of the Votes of the 2020 Electors from Nevada” to federal and state officials.

A judge dismissed the case in Clark County, ruling the venue was improper.

In response, Ford immediately announced his office would appeal the decision to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Since the filing of the appeal, the Nevada Supreme Court has processed numerous motions, briefs, and evidentiary submissions from both parties.

In January, the court denied motions to dismiss the appeal and a related countermotion to strike, stating it would evaluate all arguments during the formal review process.

The case is now scheduled for argument in August, where each side will have 17 minutes to present their positions, including two minutes of uninterrupted time at the start of each argument.

Update, December 12, 2024:

On Thursday Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced that the Office of the Attorney General has filed charges in the Carson City Justice Court related to the 2020 fake electors case.

The six Nevadans who are alleged to have falsely represented themselves as presidential electors after the 2020 election have been charged with uttering a forged instrument, a category D felony.

The six defendants were indicted by a grand jury in the Eighth Judicial District Court in December 2023 for offering a false instrument for filing, a category C felony, and uttering a forged instrument, a category D felony, for offering a false instrument titled “Certificate of the Votes of the 2020 Electors from Nevada” to the president of the senate; the archivist of the United States; the Nevada secretary of state; and the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.

However, the Eighth Judicial District Court filings were dismissed for improper venue.

AG Ford has appealed that ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court.

That appeal is still under review, and if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the Office of the Attorney General, the charges filed in Carson City will be dropped.

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Update, July 27:

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said he has appealed the dismissal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

He issued the following statement:

"Yesterday evening Judge Holthus entered orders dismissing the State’s cases against six people who conspired and submitted fake elector certificates falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner of Nevada’s electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election. My Office has appealed the dismissals to the Nevada Supreme Court. We remain confident in our case and look forward to bringing these individuals to justice and holding them accountable for their actions."

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Update, June 21:

A Nevada state court judge dismissed a criminal indictment Friday against six Republicans accused of submitting certificates to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner of the state’s 2020 presidential election, potentially killing the case with a ruling that state prosecutors chose the wrong venue to file the case.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford stood in a Las Vegas courtroom a moment after Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus delivered her ruling, declaring that he would take the case directly to the state Supreme Court.

“The judge got it wrong and we’ll be appealing immediately,” Ford told reporters afterward. He declined any additional comment.

Defense attorneys bluntly declared the case dead, saying that to bring the case now to another grand jury in another venue such as Nevada's capital city of Carson City would violate a three-year statute of limitations on filing charges that expired in December.

“They’re done,” said Margaret McLetchie, attorney for Clark County Republican party chairman Jesse Law, one of the defendants in the case.

The judge called off trial, which had been scheduled for next January, for defendants that included state GOP chairman Michael McDonald; national party committee member Jim DeGraffenreid; national and Douglas County committee member Shawn Meehan; and Eileen Rice, a party member from the Lake Tahoe area. Each was charged with offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument, felonies that carry penalties of up to four or five years in prison.

Defense attorneys contended that Ford improperly brought the case in Las Vegas instead of Carson City or Reno, northern Nevada cities closer to where the alleged crime occurred. They also accused prosecutors of failing to present to the grand jury evidence that would have exonerated their clients, and said their clients had no intent to commit a crime.

All but Meehan have been named by the state party as Nevada delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention next month in Milwaukee.

Meehan’s defense attorney, Sigal Chattah, said her client “chose not to” seek the position. Chattah ran as a Republican in 2022 for state attorney general and lost to Ford, a Democrat, by just under 8% of the vote.

After the court hearing, Hindle’s attorney, Brian Hardy, declined to comment on calls that his client has faced from advocacy groups that say he should resign from his elected position as overseer of elections in northern Nevada’s Story County, a jurisdiction with a few more than 4,100 residents. Those calls included ones at a news conference Friday outside the courthouse by leaders of three organizations.

Nevada is one of seven presidential battleground states where slates of fake electors falsely certified that Trump had won in 2020, not Democrat Joe Biden.

Others are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Criminal charges have been brought in Michigan, Georgia and Arizona.

Trump lost Nevada in 2020 by more than 30,000 votes to Biden and the state’s Democratic electors certified the results in the presence of Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican. Her defense of the results as reliable and accurate led the state GOP to censure her, but Cegavske later conducted an investigation that found no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state.

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Original Story, March 4:

Six Republicans accused of submitting certificates to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner of Nevada’s 2020 presidential election won’t be standing trial until early next year, a judge determined Monday.

Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus pushed the trial, initially scheduled for this month, back to Jan. 13, 2025, because of conflicting schedules, and set a hearing for next month to consider a bid by the defendants to throw out the indictment.

The defendants are state GOP chairman Michael McDonald, national party committee member Jim DeGraffenreid, Clark County party chair Jesse Law, Storey County clerk Jim Hindle, national and Douglas County committee member Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice, a party member from the Lake Tahoe area.

Each is charged with offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument, felonies that carry penalties of up to four or five years in prison.

Defense attorneys led by McDonald’s lawyer, Richard Wright, contend that Nevada state Attorney General Aaron Ford improperly brought the case in Las Vegas instead of Carson City, the state capital, and failed to present evidence to the grand jury that would have exonerated their clients. They also argue there is insufficient evidence and that their clients had no intent to commit a crime.

Trump lost Nevada in 2020 by more than 30,000 votes to Democratic President Joe Biden. The state’s Democratic electors certified the results in the presence of Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican whose defense of the results as reliable and accurate led the state GOP to censure her. Cegavske later conducted an investigation that found no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state.

Nevada is one of seven presidential battleground states where slates of Republicans falsely certified that Trump, not Biden, had won. Others are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Criminal charges have been brought in Michigan and Georgia. In Wisconsin, 10 Republicans who posed as electors and two attorneys have settled a lawsuit. In New Mexico, the Democratic attorney general announced last month that five Republicans in his state can’t be prosecuted under current state law.