Assembly Bill No. 634

Assembly Bill No. 634-Committee on Government Affairs

June 23, 1997
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Referred to Committee on Government Affairs

SUMMARY--Requires owner of private property to maintain historical marker provided by nonprofit organization. (BDR 33-1800)

FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.

Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.

EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.

AN ACT relating to historical markers; requiring the owner of private property to maintain a historical marker provided by a nonprofit organization; requiring disclosure of the existence of the historical marker and the duty to maintain it to a purchaser of the private property; making the requirement retroactive and requiring replacement or return of certain historical markers which have been removed; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1 NRS 383.091 is hereby amended to read as follows:
383.0911. The administrator shall:
(a) Establish the qualifications and standards for [an] a historical markers program, designate and make an inventory of qualified sites on both public and privately owned lands, and place and maintain historical markers on all public lands and all private lands when the owner consents.
(b) Establish a state historical marker registry system.
(c) Consult with the Nevada historical society to determine the content of the legend on all markers. The Nevada historical society has the final authority to determine the content of any legend.
(d) Solicit the cooperation of owners of private property for the installation of historical markers on eligible properties and structures in order that they may be included in the state historical marker registry.
(e) Install, maintain and protect all registered historical markers.
2. The administrator may contract with, or cooperate with, public or private agencies for suitable markers and directional signs, including signs on highways and roads, at the site of, or on the approaches to, registered historical markers. The contracts may include provisions for the installation, maintenance and protection of the markers.
3. When the owner of private property consents to the placement by a nonprofit organization of a historical marker in or on a structure located on his property, he shall be deemed to have consented to the maintenance of the historical marker in or on the structure for as long as the structure remains standing unless the nonprofit organization agrees to the removal and return of the historical marker. The owner shall notify any person to whom he sells or otherwise transfers ownership of the structure of the duty to maintain the historical marker. The purchaser of a structure in or on which a historical marker has been placed by a nonprofit organization shall maintain the historical marker on the structure for as long as he owns the structure and shall notify any person to whom he sells or otherwise transfers ownership of the structure of the duty to maintain the historical marker unless the nonprofit organization agrees to the removal and return of the historical marker. If the structure in or on which a historical marker is placed by a nonprofit organization is renovated or remodeled in such a manner as to require the removal of the historical marker, the owner shall ensure that the marker is reattached to the structure in the same place or in a place of similar prominence as soon as practicable after the completion of the renovation or remodeling project.
Sec. 2 1. The amendatory provisions of this act apply retroactively to any historical marker placed by a nonprofit organization in or on a structure located on private property.
2. On or before October 1, 1997, each nonprofit organization shall provide written notice to the owner of any structure in or on which a historical marker was placed by the organization but which, without the agreement of the organization, was later removed and not returned to the organization.
3. On or before January 1, 1998, an owner who receives a notice concerning a historical marker pursuant to subsection 2 shall replace the historical marker in or on the structure in the same place or a place of similar prominence, return the historical marker to the organization or reimburse the organization for the cost of the historical marker. The cost of the historical marker must be determined by the nonprofit organization.
Sec. 3. This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.