For criminal justice reforms, the legislative session was a mixed bag

Legislation discharging medical debt for people leaving prison and preventing courts from charging people fees for using a public defender passed this session. Attempts to authorize red light cameras and roll back previous sessions’ justice reforms failed. And policies seeking to protect unhoused people and sex workers were vetoed. 

The session saw a mixed bag of proposals, and outcomes, among the numerous bills dealing with the criminal legal system. 

Nick Shepack, the Nevada state director of the Fines and Fess Justice Center, describes the strides made by the state on justice related polices as an “overall net positive,” partly because of what legislation ultimately failed.

“I don’t think it was any sort of major victory like we saw last session, which had 11 pieces of legislation that reformed just prisons themselves, which was a huge deal,” Shepack said, referring to the swath of reform bills passed in 2023. “Given the context of the country right now, I think we came out ahead.”

Despite data showing a decrease in crime both in the state and nationwide, there has been a push for lawmakers to return to “tough-on-crime” approaches. 

Over the last several sessions, state lawmakers have passed reforms to the justice system, including decriminalizing low-level traffic offenses, lowering penalties for non-violent theft and drug crimes, and increasing access to diversion programs

Many of those advocating justice reforms, which includes legal groups and prisoners advocacy organizations, were surprised by “the amount of defense that we had to play this session” against many proposals that sought more punitive approaches to justice, Shepack said.

But most of the policies were held off.

Bills that survived

One of the reforms enacted this session prohibits charging defendants fees for legal representation from public defenders.

Senate Bill 120, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Melanie Scheible, prohibits a court from ordering a defendant for whom an attorney is appointed at public expense to pay any part of the expenses incurred in providing that defense.

It goes into effect Oct. 1. 

The Nevada Fines and Fees Justice Center found fees assigned for indigent defense were assessed inconsistently across Nevada. 

There were five Clark County judges who in 2023 “assessed fees for over 75% of the defendants before them” and another “eight judges who assessed fees on less than 5% of the fees who came before them,” according to data the center presented to lawmakers.

Nevada was one of more than 40 states with laws allowing the assessment of fees to defendants who are represented by public defenders, according to the National Legal Aid & Defender Association.

“It’s been a really hard issue to move.” Shepack said. “It’s a fairly significant amount of money. The fact that it got signed will lead to a lot of financial relief to individuals in the criminal justice system.” 

Another positive bill Shepack pointed to is Senate Bill 88, which discharges medical debt from those incarcerated once they leave prison.

The Fines and Fees Center told state lawmakers there is about $13 million in outstanding debt currently owed by formerly incarcerated individuals released from Nevada prisons. People released in 2024 accounted for roughly $2 million of that debt. 

Those debts can be crippling to people who are leaving prisons and attempting to restart their lives. 

Democratic Assemblymember Jovan Jackson, the first formerly incarcerated person elected to the legislature, also was able to successfully pass legislation to establish a pathway for formerly incarcerated people to work as firefighters with the Nevada Division of Forestry once they are released. 

The Nevada Department of Corrections and the Division of Forestry are required to establish a transitional housing program for those incarcerated who are “within 18 months of parole eligibility to live and participate in skills development training in forestry management and conservation.”

The bill goes into effect Oct. 1. 

Bills that were vetoed

Among the 87 bills Lombardo vetoed this session were some reforms to the legal system. 

Assembly Bill 320, another one of Jackson’s bills, sought to prevent a court from turning away defendants from hearings solely because they aren’t wearing professional attire.

Public defenders told state lawmakers stories of unhoused clients, who had successfully entered court diversion programs and were on track to complete requirements of the program, but were often turned away by judges during check-in hearings because they weren’t wearing “professional” attire. 

“These dress codes impact individuals from low-income backgrounds who may lack the resources to afford formal attire,” Jackson said during the bill’s hearing in March. “This creates barriers to accessing justice and undermines the principle that the court should be open to all, regardless of social status.”

The bill passed unanimously in the Assembly and then mostly party lines in the Senate, with Republican state Sen. John Steinbeck joining Democrats.

Lombardo wrote the legislation “creates significant practical and legal concerns” in his veto message on June 10.

“It is unclear whether court staff would be expected to report such denials to the judge or whether individuals deemed inappropriately dressed would be allowed into the courtroom simply so the judge could deny them access but then decline to penalize them,” the governor wrote. “This ambiguity undermines consistent application of the law.”

Shepack said the veto message was confusing, but more importantly, not signing the bill will hurt unhoused people, especially as cities have increasingly criminalized homelessness. 

“We’re talking about people who don’t have access to professional clothing,” he said.

Assembly Bill 209, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember David Orentlicher, would have granted sex workers immunity from criminal liability from prostitution-related offenses if they called 911 seeking medical assistance.

The bill passed both chambers in party-line votes. 

In his veto message, Lombardo said the legislation would codify mistrust of law enforcement “by assuming that sex workers fear prosecution more than they trust officers to prioritize their safety and the investigation of violent crimes.”

Reseachers who recently surveyed sex workers in Nevada had told state lawmakers that nearly all those interviewed lack confidence in the criminal legal system and feel law enforcement doesn’t take sexual assault allegations seriously. 

Lombardo also said the legislation would have provided “immunity for violations of prostitution laws any time medical assistance is sought, without requiring that a violent crime has occurred.”

“This disconnect creates a significant policy loophole. In practice, a sex worker acting in bad faith could report any crime, no matter how minor or unrelated, and still claim immunity from prosecution,” he wrote. 

Orentlicher heavily amended the legislation to specifically focus on protecting sex workers seeking medical assistance to appease law enforcement.

But law enforcement still opposed the legislation.

Bills that died

Multiple proposals sought to authorize automated traffic enforcement, such as red light cameras, which proponents said would reduce traffic fatalities. 

Senate Bill 415, which would have allowed local jurisdictions to use automated traffic enforcement, such as red light cameras, if they chose to do so died early in the session when it didn’t advance out of committee. 

A more targeted version of automated enforcement, Assembly Bill 402, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Selena Torres-Fossett, limited authorized traffic monitoring cameras to construction work zones when workers are present. 

The bill passed the Assembly 27-15 in the last days of the session but failed to advance in the Senate. 

One of the only traffic bills to survive this session was Assembly Bill 111, sponsored by Republican Assemblymember Brian Hibbetts, which makes driving the wrong way a misdemeanor crime. The bill takes effect Oct. 1 

Though it was looking like it was on track to pass in the last hour of the session, the governor’s wide-ranging crime bill, which sought to stiffen penalties for DUI offenses, retail theft, and crimes on the Las Vegas Strip, ultimately failed. 

“I was the most surprised with the way that the governor’s crime bill went, and much more so with the last minute amendments coming from gaming and Culinary, than I was with the governor’s original proposal,” Shepack said. 

Echoing complaints made while Lombarod’s bill was heard by lawmakers, Shepack said a bill with so many components required supportive data and should have been discussed for months starting in the interim session. Neither condition applied to Lombardo’s legislation. 

Some of the bills criminal justice reformers and legal groups were pushing also died, including second look laws.

Assembly Bill 91 would have created an avenue for those incarcerated to have sentences reviewed by the State Board of Parole Commissioners after they’ve served extended periods of time. 

The bill passed the Assembly on party lines, then died in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Shepack said that while he was sad to see it fail, he understands “any reform of that size tends to take more than one session.”

Senate Bill 323, which passed the Senate unanimously,would have created a pilot program to provide free phone calls at Florence McLure Women’s Correctional Center, with an eye to extending the policy throughout the system.

But in the waning hours of the session, it wasn’t able to get the final vote it needed. 

“The fact that they ran out of time and it didn’t get voted on on the Assembly floor was very disappointing,” Shepack said. “Those women in Florence McClure and those families are really going to be hurting due to the lack of action on that piece of legislation.”