The nearly three years Carrie Cox has spent on the Henderson City Council has been marked by controversy — legal fights, barbed comments during council meetings, salacious rumors and now a felony charge for allegedly recording her colleague illegally.

Cox has said she is being persecuted for political reasons and that her fellow council members are swayed by moneyed interests and acting together to maintain their power. Cox is a political outsider — she does not have a government background, was not endorsed by the current mayor and raised less than half of the funds her opponent did during her campaign. Prior to becoming councilwoman, she taught at Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon and ran a day care. 

Other city council members have criticized Cox’s conduct on several occasions. Councilwoman Monica Larson — who was also a political outsider when she challenged an incumbent and won — has said she does not share the same “integrity, character or values” as Cox and called her out for engaging in “theatrics.” In August, Mayor Michelle Romero shared an email statement to The Nevada Independent that Cox was politicizing standard city council issues by spreading “false” and “misleading” information. 

Cox was indicted by a grand jury Nov. 4 on a felony charge for spying on Larson and recording the conversation surreptitiously. She pleaded not guilty at her arraignment in a brief Tuesday morning court hearing.

A police report investigating Cox’s recording of Larson also indicated that she may have been running a profitable, unlicensed child care business with her husband.

Under Nevada state law, residents are allowed to watch no more than four children who they are not related to without obtaining a license. In a text message to The Independent, Cox, who has 11 grandchildren, said the allegations had nothing to do with her current case and were “nothing more than political slander and untrue,” and referred to NRS 432.095, which outlines childcare licensing laws.  

Cox’s claims that her colleagues are united against her in favor or special interests have been echoed by others in Henderson — the council has been called a “pay for play” arrangement by Jason Porter, a candidate in 2024 who challenged an incumbent on the council. Candidates for Henderson City Council, including Larson, have long criticized alleged corruption and financial ties to developments in front of city council. 

Cox was unanimously censured by the city council Monday night for these actions. Censures are a formal condemnation or a denouncement of a public official, which means she will be removed from all regional boards and commissions. Cox was absent from the meeting. 

On a national level, censure is rare, though not unheard of — nine senators and 25 House representatives have been censured since the country’s founding. 

Locally, censure has been used by a variety of entities. A Clark County judicial candidate was censured by the state judicial discipline board in 2010 for statements she made about her opponent, though that decision was later rescinded. In 2011, the Nevada Commission on Ethics voted to censure Sparks City Councilman Michael Carrigan for voting on a project that a friend of his was involved with, which Carrigan contested and was turned into a Supreme Court case. 

During Monday’s city council meeting, the wide majority of  Henderson residents, only three out of 22 were critical of her, who spoke during a public comment period were supportive of Cox — some wore custom stickers reading “I support Carrie Cox.”

Two people said they were involved in incidents named in the police investigation of Cox and claimed those were misreported, calling the officer’s report into question. One speaker, Holly Foster, said Cox was innocent until proven guilty and called the censure “hysterical” and a “witch hunt.” Others spoke about feeling ashamed by the squabbles on the city council.

“Most of these are petty grievances and they are very embarrassing for those of us who live here,” Henderson resident Denell Hahn said during public comment. “I don’t want to recount all the allegations you make against one another but it’s really foolish.” 

All of Cox’s colleagues on the council — Dan Stewart, Jim Seebock, Romero and Larson — were critical of the councilwoman. Romero said Cox repeatedly made serious ethical violations, misused her power as a public official and ignored legal orders against her, while calling for Cox’s resignation. 

“The reason we are here is because extremely concerning information was provided to this city resulting in a 10-month investigation into Cox,” Romero said. “This is a pattern of diabolical, unethical and immoral behavior from the first days she entered office until now.” 

Josh Tomsheck, Cox’s attorney, said the councilwoman maintains her innocence and that nothing has been determined. 

“There is much more that will come to light throughout this process,” Tomsheck wrote in an email statement to The Indy. “My client has a long history as a contributing and dedicated citizen of her community, has absolutely zero criminal history, and is confident those things will remain true and she will be exonerated when all is said and done.”

Cox is not the only Henderson council member to be embroiled in controversy. In the past three years, former Councilman Dan Shaw had six lawsuits filed against him for allegedly running a payday loan scheme that illegally charged up to 800 percent in interest. Stewart is accused of failing to disclose a conflict of interest when voting on large development projects. Seebock has had two ethics complaints filed against him. 

Larson has been accused of falsifying her professional credentials in campaign materials and hiring a bodyguard to field reporters' questioning about it, which resulted in a physical scuffle. Most recently, reporting from KLAS Channel 8 indicated Larson called police 41 times between October 2024 and 2025, and was at one point threatened with arrest by an officer.

Larson held a press conference after the arraignment, saying she was “tired” of the media circus surrounding the Cox indictment.

Scroll through the timeline to see notable events that led up to Cox’s censure. 

Kiara Adams contributed to this report.