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- 83rd Session (2025)
Senate Bill No. 155–Senator Flores
CHAPTER..........
AN ACT relating to peace officers; authorizing the employment as
peace officers of persons who are legally authorized to work
in the United States under federal law and have been
employed as a peace officer in another state; prohibiting the
Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission from
adopting ce rtain regulations; and providing other matters
properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
With certain exceptions, existing law requires any officer of the State of
Nevada or any political subdivision of the State or any person acting under or for
such an officer in any office or department of the State or political subdivision of
the State to employ only citizens or wards of the United States. (NRS 281.060)
Section 1 of this bill creates an exception to this limitation, effective on January 1,
2026, by authorizing the employment as peace officers of persons who : (1) are
legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law ; (2) have been
employed as a peace officer in another state; and (3) who satisfy all other
applicable limitations on or requirements relating to the employment of peace
officers.
Existing law requires the Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission
to adopt regulations establishing minimum standards for the certific ation and
decertification, recruitment, selection and training of peace officers. (NRS 289.510)
Section 2 of this bill prohibits the Commission from adopting regulations that
require citizenship of the United States for the appointment of a person as a pea ce
officer, if the person : (1) is legally authorized to work in the United States under
federal law ; (2) has been employed as a peace officer in another state; and (3)
satisfies all other applicable limitations on or requirements relating to the
employment of peace officers. Section 3 of this bill voids any existing regulations
that conflict with this change.
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 281.060 is hereby amended to read as follows:
281.060 1. [Only] Except as otherwise provided in
subsection 3, only citizens or wards of the United States or persons
who have been honorably discharged from the military service of
the United States may be employed by any officer of the State of
Nevada, by any political subdivision of the State, or by any person
acting under or for such an officer in any office or department of the
State of Nevada or political subdivision of the State.
2. In all cases where persons are so employed, preference must
be given, if the qualifications of the applicants are equal:
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(a) First: To honorably discharged military personnel of the
United States who are citizens of the State of Nevada.
(b) Second: To other citizens of the State of Nevada.
3. Nothing in this section prevents:
(a) The working of prisoners by the State of Nevada or by any
political subdivision of the State, on street or road work or other
public work.
(b) The employment of aliens, who have not forfeited their right
to citizenship by claiming exemptio n from military service, as
common laborers in the construction of public roads, when it can be
shown that citizens or wards of the United States or persons who
have been honorably discharged from the military service of the
United States are not available for such employment. Any alien so
employed must be replaced by a citizen, ward or ex -service person
of the United States applying for employment.
(c) The employment of any teacher, instructor or professor
authorized to teach in the United States under th e teacher-exchange
programs as authorized by federal laws enacted by the Congress of
the United States.
(d) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the
employment of aliens by the Nevada System of Higher Education in
the technical, graduate assist ant and student categories. Except in
the foreign language departments, not more than 5 percent of the
total number of persons employed in the technical, graduate
assistant and student categories may be aliens.
(e) Employment of aliens in any state or pol itical subdivision
hospital.
(f) Employment as peace officers of persons who are legally
authorized to work in the United States under federal law , who
have been employed as a peace officer in another state and who
satisfy all other applicable limitations on or requirements relating
to the employment of peace officers imposed pursuant to
chapter 289 of NRS. As used in this paragraph, “peace officer”
has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 289.010.
4. Subject to the exceptions contained in this section, mo ney
must not be paid out of the State Treasury or out of the treasury of
any political subdivision of the State to any person employed on any
of the work mentioned in this section unless the person is a citizen
or ward or naturalized citizen of the United States.
5. Any officer of the State of Nevada, or of any political
subdivision of the State, or any person acting under or for such an
officer, or any other person who violates any of the provisions of
this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. The penalties provided for
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in this section do not apply where the violations result from
misrepresentations made by the employee by the production of
fraudulent papers evidencing citizenship in the United States.
Sec. 2. NRS 289.510 is hereby amended to read as follows:
289.510 1. The Commission:
(a) Shall meet at the call of the Chair, who must be elected by a
majority vote of the members of the Commission.
(b) Shall provide for and encourage the training and education
of persons whose primary duty is law enforcement to ensure the
safety of the residents of and visitors to this State.
(c) May make necessary inquiries to determine whether the
agencies of this State and of the local governments are complying
with standards s et forth in the regulations adopted pursuant to
subsection 2.
(d) Shall carry out the duties required of the Commission
pursuant to NRS 432B.610 and 432B.620.
(e) May perform any other acts that may be necessary and
appropriate to the functions of the Co mmission as set forth in NRS
289.450 to 289.680, inclusive.
(f) May enter into an interlocal agreement with an Indian tribe to
provide training to and certification of persons employed as police
officers by that Indian tribe.
(g) Shall develop and approve a standard curriculum of certified
training programs in crisis intervention, which may be made
available in an electronic format, and which address specialized
responses to persons with mental illness and train peace officers to
identify the signs and sy mptoms of mental illness, to de -escalate
situations involving persons who appear to be experiencing a
behavioral health crisis and, if appropriate, to connect such persons
to treatment. A peace officer who completes any program developed
pursuant to this p aragraph must be issued a certificate of
completion.
2. The Commission shall adopt regulations establishing
minimum standards for:
(a) The certification and decertification, recruitment, selection
and training of peace officers. The standards adopted pu rsuant to
this paragraph must:
(1) Establish requirements for evaluations to be conducted
during the recruitment and selection of peace officers, which must
identify implicit bias on the part of a peace officer on the basis of
race, color, religion, nati onal origin, physical or mental disability,
sexual orientation or gender identity or expression;
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(2) Establish requirements for basic training for category I,
category II and category III peace officers and reserve peace
officers;
(3) Establish standar ds for programs for the continuing
education of peace officers, including minimum courses of study
and requirements concerning attendance, which must require that all
peace officers annually complete not less than 12 hours of
continuing education in courses that address:
(I) Racial profiling;
(II) Mental health, including, without limitation, crisis
intervention;
(III) The well-being of officers;
(IV) Implicit bias recognition;
(V) De-escalation;
(VI) Human trafficking; and
(VII) Firearms;
(4) Establish qualifications for instructors of peace officers;
(5) Establish requirements for the certification of a course of
training;
(6) Require all peace officers to receive training in the
handling of cases involving abuse or neglect of children or missing
children;
(7) Require all peace officers to receive training in the
handling of cases involving abuse, neglect, exploitation, isolation
and abandonment of older persons or vulnerable persons;
(8) Not prohibit the certification of an applicant solely on the
basis that the applicant has engaged in the adult use of cannabis or
the medical use of cannabis;
(9) Not require the decertification of a peace officer solely on
the basis that the peace officer has engaged in the adult use of
cannabis or the medical use of cannabis; and
(10) Require the decertification of a peace officer upon a
determination by the Commission that the peace officer knowingly
provided false or misleading information in his or her application
for certification.
(b) An annual behavioral wellness visit for peace officers to aid
in preserving the emotional and mental health of the peace officer
and assessing any conditions that may affect the performance of
duties by the peace officer.
(c) The recip rocity of a person who has been certified as a
category III peace officer or its equivalent by the certifying
authority of another state or who has successfully completed a
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federal law enforcement training program that is equivalent to a
category III peace officer in this State.
3. The regulations adopted by the Commission pursuant to
subsection 2:
(a) Apply to all agencies of this State and of local governments
in this State that employ persons as peace officers; [and]
(b) May require that training be carried on at institutions which
it approves in those regulations [.] ; and
(c) Must not require citizenship of the United States as a
standard for appointment of a person as a peace officer if the
person is legally authorized to work in the United States under
federal law, has been employed as a peace officer in another state
and satisfies all other applicable limitations on or requirements
relating to the employment of peace officers imposed pursuant to
this chapter.
4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a law
enforcement agency from adopting a policy that requires a peace
officer to submit to a screening test as:
(a) A condition precedent to employment; or
(b) A condition for continued employment.
Sec. 3. Any provision of a regulation adopted by the Peace
Officers’ Standards and Training Commission that conflicts with the
amendatory provisions of this act is void. The Legislative Counsel
shall remove any such provision of a regulation adopted by the
Commission as soon as practicable after January 1, 2026.
Sec. 4. This act becomes effective on January 1, 2026.
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