CARSON CITY -- Nevada lawmakers Tuesday reviewed a bill that writes into law the rules guiding judges in alimony disputes, a measure prompted by the case of Darren Mack, charged with killing his wife and trying to kill the Reno judge handling his divorce case.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee also heard testimony on a bill stemming from a divorce case that led to a murder solicitation conviction in Southern Nevada. That bill would eliminate parental rights for anyone who is convicted of soliciting murder.

Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, said he decided to propose his Assembly Bill 52 after reading about Mack.

"Maybe we wouldn't have had such a terrible case" if the guidelines had been spelled out in state law, Carpenter said.

Mack reportedly was upset by how Washoe County Family Court Judge Chuck Weller was handling his divorce and was upset, court documents said, because his wife, Charla, refused to agree that they accumulated no community property during their marriage.

In May 2005, Weller ordered Mack to pay $10,000 a month in temporary alimony payments to his wife. Mack filed for bankruptcy to avoid paying, according to court papers. Court filings showed that Mack earned more than $500,000 a year and had a net worth of $9.4 million.

Nevada law does not provide guidelines for how a judge decides alimony. Judges decide payments based on several precedent-setting state Supreme Court decisions. Whether judges always follow the points outlined by case precedent is unclear, Carpenter said.

In reviewing Assembly Bill 45, the murder solicitation measure, Judiciary members were told by Henderson police Lt. Rob McCorkle that during his divorce, investigators learned his then-wife, Florela, was plotting to murder him.

Although the woman was convicted of soliciting homicide and is serving prison time, she keeps some parental rights over their daughter.

McCorkle said that the current law eliminates parental rights in such cases only if the child is in the custody of the state.

"You'd think that after being convicted of such a crime, she wouldn't have custody of my daughter," McCorkle said. Any change in the law would have no affect on his situation, he added.

Cotter Conway, a lobbyist for the Washoe County public defender's office, argued the bill is unnecessary because existing law requires that a felony conviction should be considered when deciding whether a person is fit to be a parent.

Conway cautioned against a "blanket approach." He said instances occur in which parents who have committed crimes such as murder are rehabilitated and are still fit to be parents.