A Nevada Commission on Ethics panel will hold a hearing and give an opinion on whether Pahrump Town Board Chairman Laurayne Murray violated the Ethics in Government law, according to an NCE e-mail sent out yesterday afternoon.

The hearing is in response to a complaint filed, by a person unknown, that alleges Murray acted unethically when she chose to attend a closed session during a Pahrump Town Board meeting in March.

Murray's husband, Tim, is president of the International Association of Fire Fighters and gave a presentation during the session.

The town board chairman told this paper the closed session had nothing to do with pending contract negotiations between the town and the Pahrump Valley Fire Rescue Service.

Murray read a disclosure statement during the open meeting, stating she did not have to recuse herself from the session because the matters discussed would not affect her or her husband materially.

The filed complaint alleges Murray violated NRS 281A in three ways.

First, when Murray allegedly "used her position to benefit herself and/or her husband when she participated in negotiations during the closed session."

The complaint further alleges Murray failed to comply with the requirement to disclose and abstain from the meeting because a reasonable person in her situation would have determined she "would be materially affected by her commitment to her husband."

Third, the complaint alleges she violated a previous opinion from the commission (requested by Murray when she was running for state Assembly in 2006) which said she should not participate in collective bargaining negotiations between the fire department and the town.