Lawmakers try again to decriminalize traffic offenses

CARSON CITY – Nevada lawmakers are making another attempt to decriminalize more minor traffic offenses such as speeding or texting while driving with a bill that looks to have a better chance of passage this year than similar efforts in prior years.

Assembly Bill 116 would reclassify offenses now rated misdemeanors as civil infractions – offenses such as violating an HOV lane restriction, making an illegal turn, not wearing a seat belt, or driving without a child safety seat. The bill has 30 sponsors and co-sponsors.

“The main purpose of this bill is to make sure we are not arresting, we are not incarcerating and we are not branding people as criminals for committing minor traffic violations, whether that’s Nevadans in our own state or tourists that are coming here,” said Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen, D-Las Vegas, presenting the bill to the Assembly Judiciary Committee Thursday.

She presented the bill with Alex Wong, a high school senior at West Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas and member of the Nevada Youth Legislature, who noted the current system’s “systematic unfairness” as a de facto system of debtor’s prison for those who fail to pay a traffic fine and face arrest and incarceration as a result.

Because such offenses are misdemeanors, pleading guilty and paying the fine results in a criminal record that can turn up in a background check for school or employment.

“We are funding the courts through these traffic citations off the backs of people who are least likely to afford it,” Wong said.

Previous efforts failed

Similar efforts came before the Legislature in 2013 and 2015. Lawmakers conducted an interim study in 2017 and a bill passed the Assembly in 2019 but was withdrawn by the sponsor in the face of objections from local governments that fear the loss of income they now receive from fines as well as costs of changing to the new approach.

Those concerns remain. In a fiscal note submitted with the bill, the city of Henderson projects a more than $700,000 annual loss of revenue; Clark County set the figure at $12.8 million. Local government representatives on Thursday nonetheless signalled their willingness to collaborate on changes to the bill that could include phasing in its provisions.

Other mild opposition focused on how the change would be made, with all acknowledging support for the goal of decriminalization. Supporters noted localities would see saving from not sending ticket scofflaws to jail, paying officers to transport offenders or appear in court, or staffing courts with prosecutors.

Nevada is one of 13 states that classify traffic offenses as crimes; 37 states do not, and 20 have decriminalized them since 1970, according to a 2014 UCLA law review study. Coming in at 65 pages, the bill revises multiple sections of state law and supporters acknowledged its provisions almost certainly will need fine-tuning.

“We know that this bill will bring relief to a lot of people who are experiencing getting warrants for not being able to pay minor traffic violations,” said Leisa Moseley, Nevada state director for the Fines and Fees Justice Center. “Let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good. Let’s get this bill passed, and let’s figure out a way to implement it.”

HOA changes

In other legislative action Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee took up Senate Bill 144, a bill that would make several changes to how homeowners associations operate in Nevada, drawing praise from housing rights advocates as well as the ire of HOA groups.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Pat Spearman, D-North Las Vegas, would require the HOAs to set up a website or portal where owners could pay dues and fees and would remove the ability of HOAs to foreclose on home with a lien without going to court. Smaller HOAs, as in those with fewer than 100 homes, would not be covered by the bill.

“It helps people stay in their home. And it helps to give them an extra layer of protection for due process. That’s all it does,” Spearman said during the hearing.

Gillian Block from the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers said that the bill will put in place new protections for homeowners and “help keep people in their homes.”

HOA groups, which made up the majority of the callers who testified against the bill, panned the proposal.

Cameron Clark, president of the Nevada Association Services, said going to court for foreclosures would cost more money and add a new burden to the system. He added that it would add a “punitive measure” on homeowners and could drive home prices down.

Laura Chapman, a real estate agent in Las Vegas, disagreed with those claims and said that with the housing shortage, home equity and values are continuing to increase.

As to the claim that it would increase costs to homeowners, Chapman said “I just don’t think that’s a provable fact.”

The committee took no action on the bill.

Lobbyist bill signed

Gov. Steve Sisolak signed Assembly Bill 110, which requires lobbyists to register with the Legislature even though they are not allowed inside the legislative building due to COVID-19 concerns.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DentzerNews on Twitter. Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.