Legislative History FAQs

What is Nevada Revised Statutes?

From Chapter 5 of the 2019 Legislative Manual:

Nevada Revised Statutes is an annotated codification of all statute laws in Nevada of a general, public, and permanent nature. Officially cited as NRS, the code consists of 63 loose-leaf volumes including indices, comparative tables, and certain special and local acts. The NRS is also available electronically as part of the Official Nevada Law Library (on CD-ROM).

The NRS is revised and published by the Legislative Counsel Bureau. It is organized according to subject matter, but unlike the codes of some states, there is a single, unified system of section numbers running from beginning to end so that codes, titles, and chapters need not be cited. The four broadest divisions are codes:

1. The Remedial Code, which deals with court structure and organization and civil procedure and remedies.
2. The Civil Code, which deals with relationships between persons.
3. The Penal Code, which encompasses crimes and punishments and criminal procedure.
4. The Political Code, which relates to the structure and organization of state and local governments and with the services rendered and the regulation exercised by such governments.

Within the codes are the titles, numbered consecutively from 1 through 59, each of which embraces a major subject area of law. The titles, in turn, are broken down into chapters, and within the chapters are the specific provisions of the law set forth as sections, which are given identifying numbers. In citing a law contained in NRS, the numbers preceding the decimal point indicate the chapter in which the provision is located, while those following the decimal pinpoint the specific section referred to in the citation. Hence, a citation reading NRS 218D.630 would mean that the law in question is found in Chapter 218D of NRS, while 630 indicates its place in that chapter. The system is truly decimal, that is, NRS 233B.0395 lies between NRS 233B.039 and NRS 233B.040.

The numbers, dates, and symbols at the conclusion of each NRS section refer to the statutory history of the sections and permit the quick location of their statutory antecedents. An explanation of the code employed is contained in the Legislative Counsel's Preface in Volume 1.

The rules of Nevada's courts are also printed with NRS. Court Rules Volume I contains the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure, Nevada Short Trial Rules, and Rules Governing Alternative Dispute Resolution and Nevada Alternate Trial Rules. Court Rules Volume II contains the Nevada Electronic Filing and Conversion Rules, Justice Court Rules, Local Justice Court Rules, District Court Rules, and Local Rules of Practice. Court Rules Volume III contains the Nevada Rules of Appellate Procedure; Supreme Court Rules; the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct; the Rules Governing Sealing and Redacting Court Records; the Rules Governing the Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics; the Rules Governing Appearance by Audiovisual Transmission Equipment; the Rules Governing the Collection of Fees and Charges; the Rules Pertaining to Exhibits Marked and/or Admitted Into Evidence; Addendum Nos. 1 and 2; the Nevada Rules of Professional Conduct; the Nevada Rules on the Administrative Docket; the Minimum Records Retention Schedules; the Policy for Handling Filed, Lodged, and Presumptively Confidential Documents; and the Foreclosure Mediation Rules. The U.S. District Court Rules and the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court Rules are available in soft bound copy. The court rules are not assigned chapter numbers and are arranged simply in numerical order by rule. Citations for these rules may be given as SCR 4, NRCP 65(a), and NRAP 1(a). The alphabetical listing of Nevada's Supreme Court cases and their citations are in Volume 58 of NRS.

The Nevada Admission Acts and the Nevada Constitution with its index are found in Volume 54 of NRS. Volume 55 contains the U.S. Constitution with its index and charters for all cities incorporated by special act. Volume 56 contains a selection of local and special acts that appear to have a continuing effect and may have a significant degree of public interest. Major inclusions are water and sewer districts, room taxes, convention centers, and other special acts. Volume 57 provides comparative tables, relating NRS sections to those found in the previous compilation and to new sections added by statutes enacted subsequent to the adoption of NRS as the law of Nevada. Also included is a table of all sections repealed or replaced in NRS since its enactment in 1957. Volumes 59 through 63 comprise the comprehensive index to NRS.

At each session of the Legislature, numerous changes are made in the existing body of law contained in NRS. To keep NRS current, the Legislative Counsel prepares biennial supplements, which contain all changes made in NRS at the immediately preceding session. Supplements to NRS are printed periodically throughout the biennium to update the annotations or also for changes made in special sessions.

The volumes of NRS currently sell for $695 per set and may be ordered from the Publications Unit of the Legal Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau. Legislators desiring to obtain one personal set of NRS may order it directly from the Bureau at a cost of $50. This fee entitles a legislator to a complete set of NRS. Sets of replacement or supplementary pages as issued during the legislator's term of office are provided without additional charge.

Nevada Revised Statutes contains annotations that assist in interpreting the meaning of statutory language appearing in NRS. The annotations contain several basic aids to understanding Nevada law:

1. Reviser's Notes. The Reviser's Notes explain the reasons for omissions, changes of wording, and reorganizations made during the revision of NRS. They also set forth selected preambles, legislative policy statements, and other provisions of law having more than temporary effect which are not included in NRS. In a few instances, they provide additional information about the source or effective date of a provision.
2. Legislative Histories. The legislative history for each section of NRS is inserted in brackets and/or parentheses immediately following the section. The history contains a reference to the section, chapter, and year of the Statutes of Nevada from which the section is derived and includes references to subsequent amendments. In addition, Volume 57 of NRS provides a legislative history of the enactment, repeal, and replacement of the sections of NRS, including the sections that existed prior to the enactment of NRS.
3. References to Nevada Constitutional Debates and Proceedings. Annotations to the Nevada Constitution contain references to the Debates and Proceedings in the 1864 Constitutional Convention of the State of Nevada, as reported by Andrew J. Marsh and published in 1866.
4. Notes of the Advisory Committees of Nevada's Supreme Court. The annotations to Nevada Rules of Appellate Procedure, Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure, and Justices' Courts Rules contain notes as prepared by the respective advisory committees appointed by Nevada's Supreme Court.
5. NRS Cross References. The annotations contain references to sections of NRS that are related to the statutory provision.
6. Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) Cross References. The annotations contain references to sections of the NAC that are related or adopted pursuant to the statutory provision.
7. Relevant Judicial Decisions. The annotations contain notes and citations for decisions of the Nevada Supreme Court, federal courts, and courts of other jurisdictions that bear upon the provisions of NRS. Also included are statements of holdings in cases decided under former statutes that were substantially the same as the provisions in NRS.
8. Notes of Opinions of the Attorney General. Where appropriate, the annotations contain brief notes on pertinent Opinions of the Attorneys General of the State of Nevada since 1869. These are identified by the citation prefix "AGO," followed by the number of the opinion and its date of issuance. Opinions concerning the Open Meeting Law are included where appropriate and are prefixed with "OMLO," followed by the number and the date of issuance.
9. Opinions of Nevada's Commission on Ethics. Where appropriate, the annotations contain brief notes on pertinent Opinions of the Commission on Ethics. These are identified by the citation prefix "CEO," followed by the number of the opinion.