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- 83rd Session (2025)
Senate Bill No. 20–Committee on Judiciary
CHAPTER..........
AN ACT relating to judicial administration; revising requirements
relating to certain proceedings in justice court; revising
provisions governing the selection of jurors; and providing
other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law requires certain proceedings in a justice court to be recorded by
the use of sound recording equipment . (NRS 4.390) Existing law also specifies that
if a case is tried by jury in a justice court, a certified court reporter must be present
and report on the trial under certain circumstances. (NRS 175.011) Section 4 of this
bill eliminates this requirement, thereby authorizing a justice court to record a
proceeding before a jury using sound recording equipment under certain
circumstances.
Existing law provides that sound recording s of certain proceedings in justice
court must be preserved for certain period s. (NRS 4.420) Section 5.5 of this bill
provides that with respect to certain criminal proceedings in a justice court, sound
recordings must be preserved for a period of at least 5 years.
Existing law authorizes a district court to assign a jury commissi oner to select
trial jurors. Existing law requires a jury commissioner so assigned to select trial
jurors from among the qualified electors of the county or city, as applicable, who
are not exempt from jury duty. As part of the jury selection process, existing law
requires a jury commissioner to compile and maintain a list of qualified electors
from information provided to the jury commissioner, including information
provided by the Department of Health and Human Services concerning persons
who receive public assistance . (NRS 6.045) Section 5.7 of this bill creates an
exception to this requirement if the inclusion of such information is prohibited by
federal law or regulation.
Existing law also requires the Department, upon the request of a district judge
or jury commissioner, to provide a list of the names and addresses of person s who
receive public assistance for use in jury selection. (NRS 422A.343) Section 5.9 of
this bill creates an exception to this requirement if the provision of such
information is prohibited by federal law or regulation.
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:
Sections 1-3. (Deleted by amendment.)
Sec. 4. NRS 175.011 is hereby amended to read as follows:
175.011 1. Cases required to be tried by jury must be so tried
unless the defendant waives a jury trial in writing with the approval
of the court and the consent of the prosecuting attorney. A defendant
who pleads not guilty to the charge of a capital offense must be tried
by jury.
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2. Except as othe rwise provided in subsection 1, in a justice
court, a case must be tried by jury only if the defendant so demands
in writing not less than 30 days before trial. [Except as otherwise
provided in NRS 4.390 and 4.400, if a case is tried by jury, a
reporter must be present who is a certified court reporter and shall
report the trial.]
3. Any proceeding before a jury in justice court may be
recorded using sound recording equipment in accordance with
NRS 4.390 and 4.400.
Sec. 5. (Deleted by amendment.)
Sec. 5.5. NRS 4.420 is hereby amended to read as follows:
4.420 1. Except as otherwise provided in this section:
(a) The sound recording of each proceeding in justice court must
be preserved until at least 1 year after the time for filing an appeal
expires.
(b) With respect to a proceeding in justice court that involves a
misdemeanor for which enhanced penalties may be imposed, a gross
misdemeanor or a felony, the sound recording of the proceeding
must be preserved for at least 8 years after the time for filing an
appeal expires.
(c) With respect to a preliminary hearing conducted pursuant
to NRS 171.178, the sound recording of the proceeding must be
preserved for at least 5 years after the date of the preliminary
hearing.
2. If no appeal is taken, the justice of the peace may order the
destruction of the recording at any time after the date specified in
subsection 1.
3. If there is an appeal to the district court, the sound recording
must be preserved until at least 30 days after final disposition of the
case on appeal, but the justice of the peace may order the destruction
of the recording at any time after that date.
Sec. 5.7. NRS 6.045 is hereby amended to read as follows:
6.045 1. A court may by rule of court designate the clerk of
the court, one of the clerk’s deputies or another person as a jury
commissioner and may assign to the jury commissioner such
administrative duties in connection with trial juries and jurors as the
court finds desirable for efficient administration.
2. If a jury commissioner is so selected, the jury commissioner
shall from time to time estimate the number of trial jurors which
will be required for attendance on the designated court and shall
select that number from the qualified electors of:
(a) The county; or
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- 83rd Session (2025)
(b) The city whose population is 220,000 or more, for a
municipal court,
not exempt by law from jury duty, whether registered as voters or
not. The jurors may be selected by computer whenever procedures
to assure random selection from computerized li sts are established
by the jury commissioner.
3. The jury commissioner shall, for the purpose of selecting
trial jurors, compile and maintain a list of qualified electors from
information provided by:
(a) A list of persons who are registered to vote in the county or
city, as applicable;
(b) The Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to NRS 482.171
and 483.225;
(c) The Employment Security Division of the Department of
Employment, Training and Rehabilitation pursuant to NRS 612.265;
(d) A public utility pursuant to NRS 704.206; and
(e) [The] Except as otherwise prohibited by federal law or
regulation, the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant
to NRS 422A.343.
4. In compiling and maintaining the list of qualified electors,
the jury commissioner shall avoid duplication of names.
5. The jury commissioner shall:
(a) Keep a record of the name, occupation, address and race of
each trial juror selected pursuant to subsection 2;
(b) Keep a record of the name, occupation, address and rac e of
each trial juror who appears for jury service; and
(c) Prepare and submit a report to the Court Administrator
which must:
(1) Include statistics from the records required to be
maintained by the jury commissioner pursuant to this subsection,
including, without limitation, the name, occupation, address and
race of each trial juror who is selected and of each trial juror who
appears for jury service;
(2) Be submitted at least once a year; and
(3) Be submitted in the time and manner prescribed by t he
Court Administrator.
6. The jury commissioner shall not select the name of any
person whose name was selected the previous year, and who
actually served on the jury by attending in court in response to the
venire from day to day until excused from fur ther attendance by
order of the court, unless there are not enough other suitable jurors
in the county or city to do the required jury duty.
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7. A court may contract with another court for the purpose of
procuring any administrative duties performed by a jury
commissioner pursuant to this chapter.
Sec. 5.9. NRS 422A.343 is hereby amended to read as
follows:
422A.343 1. [Upon] Except as otherwise prohibited by
federal law or regulation, upon the request of a district judge or
jury commissioner, the Dep artment shall provide to the district
judge or jury commissioner a list of the names and addresses of
persons who receive public assistance for use in the selection of
jurors pursuant to NRS 6.045.
2. A district judge or jury commissioner who requests th e list
of recipients pursuant to subsection 1 shall reimburse the
Department for the reasonable cost of compiling the list.
Sec. 6. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2025.
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