LAS VEGAS -- Fresh from his federal court triumph, Nevada cattleman Cliven Bundy wasted no time in renewing his range fight, asking why the local sheriff hadn't protected his family and property when government agents tried to round up his cattle in 2014.

The ranching patriarch urged Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of Clark County, Nevada, not to take direction from the federal government, describing it as a "foreign" power.

"Sheriff Lombardo, are you going to represent 'We the People' or are you going to represent the federal bureaucracy?" the 71-year-old Bundy said Wednesday, standing outside the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department headquarters. The sheriff earlier declined a personal meeting with Bundy.

Speaking into a microphone attached to a bullhorn and ringed by about 20 supporters, Bundy said, "I want to ask him to be a constitutional sheriff with more power than the president of the United States here in Clark County with the only policing power. If he don't, I guess we will replace him one way or the other."

Two days earlier, Bundy walked out of court a free man after a federal judge dismissed a conspiracy case against him, two of his sons and a Montana militiaman, finding "outrageous government misconduct" by the prosecution for failing to turn over more than 1,000 pages of documents before trial that could have helped the defense.

Bundy had spent nearly two years in custody, charged with conspiracy, assault and threats against federal officers stemming from the April 2014 standoff with U.S. Bureau of Land Management rangers carrying out a court order to impound his cattle for trespassing on public land. He was accused of rallying armed supporters to successfully thwart the attempt.

Bundy sounded just as defiant as he had before his arrest in the confrontation that helped define a movement calling for local control of federal land.

And in some respects, not much has changed for Bundy. He still faces the 2013 order to move his trespassing cattle or not interfere with future attempts to impound them.

On the same day of his federal criminal trial's opening statements on Nov. 14, he filed a civil motion to vacate the order enforcing the cattle grazing injunction against him. Federal lawyers responded that the motion has no merit, noting that he has continually ignored it. The motion is pending.

Bundy held forth at his news conference as if he were leading an educational seminar on his interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and state's rights. He quizzed listeners on when Nevada became a territory and the role of Nevada's state cattle brand inspector. It's no accident that sons and co-defendants Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy led similar talks during their armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016.

Cliven Bundy pledged to continue raising cattle, challenging federal authority over the land where his herd grazes and battling federal protections for the rugged mountains and sandstone surrounding his 160-acre ranch. Much of it became a national monument under President Barack Obama.

He said other ranchers who pay federal grazing fees are giving their money to the wrong government. He owes more than $1 million in grazing fees and penalties that he has refused to pay for two decades after federal authorities moved to limit his cattle's access to public land to safeguard the endangered desert tortoise.

If federal officials try again to round up his cattle, Bundy said he'll do "whatever it takes" to fight back, starting with a call to the county sheriff "to come and protect me."

If not, "we'd go through this same scenario that we've been through," he said.

The #LVMPD and @Sheriff_LVMPD respect the federal court’s decision in the Cliven Bundy case. Mr. Bundy has his own beliefs and has the right to express his opinion. The LVMPD will continue to follow the law and has no further comment on this case. — LVMPD (@LVMPD) January 10, 2018

His criminal defense lawyer, Bret Whipple, said he's urged Bundy or his sons to use their newfound prominence to seek political office.

"I thought that should be the next step so it gives them some authority to make their claims," Whipple said.

But the elder Bundy demurred when asked about his political plans, saying only that he believes voters should pick a new governor and new county commissioners. He said the local officials should have backed him up.

"They aided and abetted with the federal government to steal my cattle and imprison Bundys for two years," he said. "I either have to forgive these people or hold them accountable...I'm not sure. I'm considering my options."

Conservative civil attorney Larry Klayman, who was barred from representing Bundy in the criminal trial because he faces disciplinary proceedings before the Washington, D.C., bar, said he plans to file a complaint soon in state court on Bundy's behalf. It will ask a Nevada judge to rule whether the land where Bundy's cattle graze belongs to the people of the state or the federal government.

Entry to the Bundy Ranch outside Bunkerville, Nevada, on Wed., Jan. 10, 2018, two days after Cliven Bundy was released from custody once a judge threw out the federal charges against him. (Maxine Bernstein | Staff )

Though federal judges, including those with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, have repeatedly affirmed the federal government's jurisdiction over the land, Klayman said he believes Bundy will have better luck in state court.

"I don't think a state court judge is going to rule against the citizens of Nevada," Klayman said.

Ian Bartrum, a law professor at University of Nevada Las Vegas who has followed the case, said he's not surprised by Bundy's message.

"Their ultimate goal is to get more local control over public land management, and, while they can't force the federal government to back off, they might be able to persuade policymakers to revise their approach," Bartrum said.

"If nothing else this dismissal plays right into the narrative the Bundys have been presenting all along --arrogant, corrupt federal officials out to persecute generational ranchers," he said. "I would expect them to make all the hay they can out of this."

The senior Bundy said he's glad to get back to his ranch, about 75 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Since his release Monday, he said he's gotten to hug dozens of his 64 grandchildren, including one grandson placed in his arms for the first time.

Before he entered his ranch house, he walked to the trails around it to check on some of his cattle in their corrals and looked at the show steers that some grandchildren are raising for a Clark County livestock show.

When he entered his home for the first time, he sat down in his rocking chair and enjoyed a steak dinner prepared by his sons.

"It's nice to be home on the range again," he said. "The cattle are just part of my life."

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian