A.B. 477
- *AB477*
ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 477–COMMITTEE ON
LEGISLATIVE OPERATIONS AND ELECTIONS
MARCH 19, 2025
____________
Referred to Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to the counting of
incarcerated persons for purposes of the
apportionment of the population for certain election
districts. (BDR 16-1134)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
Effect on the State: Yes.
~
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to incarcerated persons; requiring the Director of
the Department of Corrections to collect and maintain an
electronic record for certain incarcerated persons with
certain information and furnish the State Demographer
with certain information relating to incarcerated persons;
revising requirements governing the manner of revising
certain population counts to count inmates; and providing
other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law requires the Director of the Department of Corrections to compile 1
the last known residential address of each offender immediately before the offender 2
was sentenced to imprisonment in a facility or institution of the Department. (NRS 3
209.131) Existing law also requires: (1) the State Demographer, employed by the 4
Department of Taxation, to, upon the completion of the decennial census, revise the 5
population counts for every block, block group and census tract to count certain 6
inmates in the block, block group and census tract of the inmate’s last known 7
residential address before incarceration; and (2) the Department of Corrections to, 8
upon request, provide all available information to the State Demographer. (NRS 9
360.288) Existing law further requires that the population counts as revised by the 10
State Demographer be used in the apportionment of legislative districts, 11
congressional districts and districts of the Board of Regents. (NRS 218B.105, 12
304.065, 396.0414) 13
Section 1 of this bill requires the Director of the Department of Corrections to 14
collect and maintain an electronic record for each offender in a facility or institution 15
of the Department that includes: (1) the last known residential address of the 16
offender immediately before the offender was sentenced to imprisonment; (2) 17
– 2 –
- *AB477*
whether the offender is 18 years of age or older; and (3) the race or ethnicity of the 18
offender. Section 3 of this bill requires the Director of the Department, before 19
January 1, 2026, to collect and maintain for each offender in a facility or institution 20
of the Department who will be released after July 1, 2030, the last known 21
residential address of the offender immediately before the offender was imprisoned 22
in the facility or institution. 23
Section 2 of this bill requires the Department of Corrections to provide certain 24
information to the State Demographer for every inmate in a facility or institution of 25
the Department, including the information the Director is required to collect and 26
maintain in the electronic record in section 1. 27
Section 2 further requires the State Demographer to revise the population 28
counts for every block, block group and census tract to count inmates in the block, 29
block group or census tract in which the inmate was a resident before incarceration 30
not later than 30 days after certain redistricting data is provided to the State. Lastly, 31
section 2 requires that, for certain inmates whose last known residential address is 32
unknown or whose last known residential address was not in this State, the State 33
Demographer must: (1) not count the inmate in the block, block group and census 34
tract of the facility or institution in which the inmate is incarcerated; and (2) count 35
the inmate as a resident of a state unit not tied to a specific block, block group, 36
census tract or other geographical unit. 37
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 209.131 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
209.131 The Director shall: 2
1. Administer the Department under the direction of the Board. 3
2. Supervise the administration of all institutions and facilities 4
of the Department. 5
3. Receive, retain and release, in accordance with law, 6
offenders sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison. 7
4. Be responsible for the supervision, custody, treatment, care, 8
security and discipline of all offenders under his or her jurisdiction. 9
5. Ensure that any person employed by the Department whose 10
primary responsibilities are: 11
(a) The supervision, custody, security, discipline, safety and 12
transportation of an offender; 13
(b) The security and safety of the staff; and 14
(c) The security and safety of an institution or facility of the 15
Department, 16
is a correctional officer who has the powers of a peace officer 17
pursuant to subsection 1 of NRS 289.220. 18
6. Establish regulations with the approval of the Board and 19
enforce all laws governing the administration of the Department and 20
the custody, care and training of offenders. 21
7. Take proper measures to protect the health and safety of the 22
staff and offenders in the institutions and facilities of the 23
Department. 24
– 3 –
- *AB477*
8. Take proper measures to protect the health and safety of 1
persons employed by a school district to operate a program of 2
education for incarcerated persons in an institution or facility 3
pursuant to chapter 388H of NRS. 4
9. Cause to be placed from time to time in conspicuous places 5
about each institution and facility copies of laws and regulations 6
relating to visits and correspondence between offenders and others. 7
10. Provide for the holding of religious services in the 8
institutions and facilities and make available to the offenders copies 9
of appropriate religious materials. 10
11. [Compile the] Collect and maintain an electronic record 11
for each offender in a facility or institution of the Department, 12
which must include, without limitation: 13
(a) The last known residential address of each offender 14
immediately before the offender was sentenced to imprisonment in a 15
facility or institution of the Department [.] ; 16
(b) Whether the offender is 18 years of age or older; and 17
(c) The race or ethnicity of the offender, which must include a 18
separate category for persons of Hispanic or Latino descent. 19
Sec. 2. NRS 360.288 is hereby amended to read as follows: 20
360.288 1. [Upon the completion] The Department of 21
Corrections shall, after April 1 but not later than July 1 of each 22
year in which the national decennial census is completed, furnish 23
to the State Demographer for every inmate in a facility or 24
institution of the Department: 25
(a) A unique identifying number, which may not include the 26
name of the inmate and must be different than any other 27
identification number assigned to the inmate by the Department; 28
(b) The street address of the facility or institution in which the 29
inmate is sentenced to imprisonment; 30
(c) The last known residential address of each inmate 31
immediately before the inmate was sentenced to imprisonment in a 32
facility or institution of the Department and any alternative 33
residential address of the inmate, if known by the Department; 34
(d) Whether the inmate is 18 years of age or older; and 35
(e) The race or ethnicity of the person, which must include a 36
separate category for persons of Hispanic or Latino descent. 37
2. Not later than 30 days after provision of the [national 38
decennial census conducted] redistricting data by the Bureau of the 39
Census of the United States Department of Commerce [,] to the 40
State pursuant to Public Law 94-171, the State Demographer shall , 41
except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, revise the population 42
counts for every block, block group and census tract as set forth in 43
the census to count every inmate who was a resident of the State 44
– 4 –
- *AB477*
before incarceration in the block, block group and census tract of 1
which an inmate was a resident before his or her incarceration [. 2
2. The Department of Corrections shall, upon request, provide 3
to] based on the information received from the Department of 4
Corrections pursuant to subsection 1. 5
3. For every inmate whose information is received pursuant 6
to subsection 1 for whom the last known residential address is 7
unknown or whose last known residential address was not in this 8
State, and for every inmate in a federal facility or institution for 9
whom the last known residential address is unknown, the State 10
Demographer [all available information requested by the State 11
Demographer in carrying out the provisions of subsection 1. 12
3.] : 13
(a) Must not count the inmate in the block, block group and 14
census tract of the facility or institution in which the inmate is 15
incarcerated; and 16
(b) Must count the inmate as a resident of a state unit not tied 17
to a specific block, block group, census tract or other geographical 18
unit. 19
4. As used in this section: 20
(a) “Block” means the smallest geographical unit whose 21
boundaries were designated by the Bureau of the Census of the 22
United States Department of Commerce in its topographically 23
integrated geographic encoding and referencing system. 24
(b) “Block group” means a combination of blocks whose 25
numbers begin with the same digit. 26
(c) “Census tract” means a combination of block groups. 27
(d) “Inmate” means a person who was determined to be 28
incarcerated in a facility or institution of the Department of 29
Corrections at the last preceding national decennial census 30
conducted by the Bureau of the Census of the United States 31
Department of Commerce. 32
(e) “State Demographer” means the demographer employed by 33
the Department of Taxation pursuant to NRS 360.283. 34
Sec. 3. The Director of the Department of Corrections shall, 35
before January 1, 2026, collect and maintain for each offender in a 36
facility or institution of the Department who will be released from 37
the facility or institution after July 1, 2030, the last known 38
residential address of the offender immediately before the offender 39
was sentenced to imprisonment in a facility or institution of the 40
Department. 41
Sec. 4. 1. This section becomes effective upon passage and 42
approval. 43
2. Sections 2 and 3 of this act become effective on July 1, 44
2025. 45
– 5 –
- *AB477*
3. Section 1 of this act becomes effective on January 1, 2026. 1
H