Legislative Commission


The current Legislative Commission page may be found in the Interim Committee application (under the Committees tab).

The Legislative Commission consists of 12 legislators who exercise general policy-making and supervising authority over the operations of the Legislative Counsel Bureau. At every regular session of the Legislature, the Senate and the Assembly each designate six members and alternates for those members to serve on the Commission. The Legislature is required to determine, by joint rule at each regular session:

  1. the method of determining the majority and minority party regular and alternate membership on the Commission;
  2. the method of filling vacancies on the Commission;
  3. the method of selecting the Chair; and
  4. the term of office of the Chair.

These provisions are currently enumerated in Joint Rule No. 11.

Members of the Legislative Commission serve until their successors are appointed. However, retiring legislators, or those who have been defeated for reelection, serve only until the day after the general election. The resulting vacancies are filled in the same manner as vacancies arising from other causes.

For each day's attendance at a meeting of the Legislative Commission or while engaged in official Legislative Counsel Bureau business, Commission members receive the daily salary then in effect for legislators plus the standard per diem and travel allowances. An alternate who attends a meeting of the Commission, but does not replace a regular member, is entitled to travel expenses, but not salary.

The Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau acts as the nonvoting Recording Secretary of the Legislative Commission, which meets periodically, as the accumulation of business requires, on call of the Chair or by decision of a majority of the Commission. Seven members of the Commission constitute a quorum.

The Legislative Commission is designated by law as Nevada's Commission of Interstate Cooperation. In this capacity, the Commission is charged with the responsibility of working with The Council of State Governments and the National Conference of State Legislatures to exchange ideas and information with other states, so that the Legislature may have the benefit of the latest thinking on matters falling within its purview. Nevada is a member of The Council of State Governments and the National Conference of State Legislatures, and its annual dues for membership in these organizations are paid by the Commission out of the Legislative Fund. The Commission also pays membership dues to other national organizations to the extent of legislative appropriation.

The Commission, which is designed to assist the Legislature in maintaining its independent and coordinate status with the Executive and Judicial Departments of state government, may investigate and inquire into any area within the competence of the Legislature. Normally, the investigative responsibilities of the Commission are delegated to subcommittees of the Commission, which are assisted by the staff of the Legislative Counsel Bureau. When it holds hearings, the Commission is required to receive recommendations and suggestions for legislation or investigation from state and local governments, officers, and legislators, and may receive recommendations and suggestions from specified private groups or any citizens desiring to report to it. It also has subpoena power and may compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents necessary to the discharge of its duties.

The Commission appoints the Nevada representatives to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and other interstate bodies; formulates proposals for interstate compacts and agreements; and, in general, facilitates Nevada's contacts with the Federal Government, the other states, and local units of government.

Between sessions of the Legislature, the Legislative Commission fixes the work priority of all studies and investigations assigned to it by concurrent resolutions of the Legislature. Normally, such studies are carried out by subcommittees of the Commission or Bureau staff under the direction and supervision of the Commission. The Commission may, between sessions, authorize the initiation of additional studies or investigations not specifically requested by the Legislature at the preceding session.