For all it is being enforced, there might as well not even be a policy at the Clark County Government Center on how lobbyists go about their work of influencing public officials.

In July, Las Vegas Sun reporters Tony Cook and Michael Mishak did some research and found 171 violations since January of the county’s disclosure policy for lobbyists. That should have spurred some action, but didn’t.

In a Sun story on Sunday, reporter Joe Schoenmann wrote about what he found in researching lobbyist visits to the county building from Oct. 1 through Dec. 1 — 41 violations.

In addition to signing in when they visit the county building, lobbyists since 2002 have been required to fill out disclosure forms.

The forms are pretty straightforward. They require lobbyists to record their name, the date of their visit, the names of the county commissioners they are meeting with, the individuals or businesses they are representing and the issues that will be discussed.

Violations are discovered by comparing lobbyists’ names on the sign-up sheets with disclosure forms on file. The purpose of the disclosure forms is to make government more transparent for the public.

Members of the public have a right to know everything contained on the disclosure forms, which are also required to be submitted even if lobbyist-commissioner meetings are held somewhere other than the county building. The forms provide insight on commissioners’ voting records that is useful at election time.

As it stands, however, whether lobbyists complete the disclosure form or blow off the requirement is completely up to their own sense of ethics. No one at the county enforces the policy. Even if the county conscientiously researched the compliance rate and discovered violations on its own, there is nothing it could do — violations carry no penalty.

Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani says she will propose new guidelines for the disclosure policy next month that will include fines against lobbyists who do not comply. This should have been proposed in the summer, but better late than never.