(REPRINTED WITH ADOPTED AMENDMENTS) SECOND REPRINT
Assembly Bill No. 97-Assemblymen Evans, Anderson, Krenzer, Manendo, Close, Cegavske, Perkins, Mortenson, Herrera, Humke, Buckley, Braunlin, Collins, Price, Freeman, Parks, Koivisto, Segerblom, de Braga, Chowning, Ohrenschall, Lee, Goldwater, Bache, Neighbors, Berman, Lambert and Dini
January 29, 1997
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Referred to Committee on Judiciary
SUMMARY--Revises provisions relating to time within which prosecution for sexual assault must be commenced. (BDR 14-364)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: Yes.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to criminal procedure; revising the provisions relating to the time within which a prosecution for sexual assault must be commenced; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
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Section 1 Chapter 171 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows:
1. If, at any time during the period of limitation prescribed in NRS 171.085 and 171.095, a victim of a sexual assault or a person authorized to act on behalf of a victim of a sexual assault files with a law enforcement officer a written report concerning the sexual assault, the period of limitation prescribed in NRS 171.085 and 171.095 is removed and there is no limitation of the time within which a prosecution for the sexual assault must be commenced.
2. If a written report is filed with a law enforcement officer pursuant to subsection 1, the law enforcement officer shall provide a copy of the written report to the victim or the person authorized to act on behalf of the victim.
3. If a victim of a sexual assault is under a disability during any part of the period of limitation prescribed in NRS 171.085 and 171.095 and a written report concerning the sexual assault is not otherwise filed pursuant to subsection 1, the period during which the victim is under the disability must be excluded from any calculation of the period of limitation prescribed in 171.085 and 171.095.
4. For the purposes of this section, a victim of a sexual assault is under a disability if the victim is insane, mentally retarded, mentally incompetent or in a medically comatose or vegetative state.
5. As used in this section, "law enforcement officer" means:
(a) A prosecuting attorney;
(b) A sheriff of a county or his deputy;
(c) An officer of a metropolitan police department or a police department of an incorporated city; or
(d) Any other person upon whom some or all of the powers of a peace officer are conferred pursuant to NRS 289.150 to 289.360, inclusive.
Sec. 2. NRS 171.085 is hereby amended to read as follows:
171.085Except as otherwise provided in NRS 171.095 [,] and section 1 of this act, an indictment for:
1. Theft, robbery, burglary, forgery, arson or sexual assault must be found, or an information or complaint filed, within 4 years after the commission of the offense.
2. Any [other] felony other than murder, theft, robbery, burglary, forgery, arson or sexual assault must be found, or an information or complaint filed, within 3 years after the commission of the offense.
Sec. 3. NRS 171.095 is hereby amended to read as follows:
171.095 1. Except as otherwise provided in section 1 of this act and subsection 2:
(a) If a felony, gross misdemeanor or misdemeanor is committed in a secret manner, an indictment for the offense must be found, or an information or complaint filed, within the periods of limitation prescribed in NRS 171.085 and 171.090 after the discovery of the offense unless a longer period is allowed by paragraph (b).
(b) An indictment must be found, or an information or complaint filed, for any offense, constituting sexual abuse of a child, as defined in NRS 432B.100, before the victim of the sexual abuse is:
(1) Twenty-one years old if he discovers or reasonably should have discovered that he was a victim of the sexual abuse by the date on which he reaches that age; or
(2) Twenty-eight years old if he does not discover and reasonably should not have discovered that he was a victim of the sexual abuse by the date on which he reaches 21 years of age.
2. If any indictment found, or an information or complaint filed, within the time prescribed in subsection 1 is defective so that no judgment can be given thereon, another prosecution may be instituted for the same offense within 6 months after the first is abandoned.
Sec. 4. The provisions of this act apply to a person who committed a sexual assault before the effective date of this act if the applicable statute of limitations has commenced but has not yet expired on the effective date of this act.
Sec. 5. This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.