A.J.R. 8
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ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 8–ASSEMBLYMEMBERS
DALIA AND BACKUS
FEBRUARY 19, 2025
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Referred to Committee on Judiciary
SUMMARY—Proposes to amend the Nevada Constitution to
provide for the establishment of a business court.
(BDR C-668)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State: No.
~
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION—Proposing to amend the
Nevada Constitution to require the Legislature, to the
extent money is available, to provide by law for
the establishment of a business court.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
This resolution proposes an amendment to the Nevada Constitution to require 1
the Legislature, to the extent money is available, to provide by law for the 2
establishment of a business court which, if established, will have exclusive original 3
jurisdiction to hear disputes involving shareholder rights, mergers and acquisitions, 4
fiduciary duties, receiverships involving business entities and other commercial or 5
business disputes in which equitable or declaratory relief is sought. If the 6
Legislature establishes a business court, the constitutional amendment proposed by 7
this resolution requires the Legislature to: (1) provide by law for the appointment of 8
business court judges by the Governor from among three nominees for each seat 9
chosen by the Commission on Judicial Selection; (2) prescribe by law the powers, 10
duties and responsibilities of any such judges; and (3) fix by law the terms of any 11
such judges. The constitutional amendment proposed by this resolution also 12
provides that if the Legislature establishes a business court, the Supreme Court and 13
the court of appeals will have appellate jurisdiction of cases within the original 14
jurisdiction of the business court. Finally, the constitutional amendment proposed 15
by this resolution makes various conforming changes to provisions in the Nevada 16
Constitution relating to the business court. 17
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RESOLVED BY THE ASSEMBLY AND SENATE OF THE STATE OF 1
NEVADA, JOINTLY, That a new section, designated Section 3B, be 2
added to Article 6 of the Nevada Constitution to read as follows: 3
Sec. 3B. 1. The Legislature shall, to the extent 4
money is available, provide by law for the establishment of a 5
business court consisting of three judges or such greater 6
number as the Legislature may provide by law. 7
2. If the Legislature provides by law for the 8
establishment of a business court pursuant to subsection 1, 9
the business court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction 10
to hear disputes involving shareholder rights, mergers and 11
acquisitions, fiduciary duties, receiverships involving 12
business entities and other commercial or business disputes 13
in which equitable or declaratory relief is sought. 14
3. If the Legislature provides by law for the 15
establishment of a business court pursuant to subsection 1, 16
the Legislature shall: 17
(a) Provide for the appointment of: 18
(1) Business court judges by the Governor in 19
accordance with subsection 4; and 20
(2) A chief judge of the business court by the Chief 21
Justice of the Supreme Court; 22
(b) Prescribe by law the powers, duties and 23
responsibilities of business court judges in accordance with 24
subsection 5; and 25
(c) Fix by law the: 26
(1) Terms of office of business court judges in 27
accordance with subsection 6; and 28
(2) Term of a chief judge of the business court in 29
accordance with subsection 7. 30
4. The judges of the business court must be appointed 31
by the Governor from among three nominees selected for 32
each individual seat by the permanent Commission on 33
Judicial Selection described in subsection 3 of Section 20 of 34
this Article. A nominee selected by the Commission must, as 35
determined in the reasonable discretion of the Commission, 36
have substantial experience as a practitioner or judge in one 37
or more areas of law within the jurisdiction of the business 38
court. 39
5. A business court judge must, for matters with the 40
jurisdiction of the business court, have the same powers and 41
duties and be subject to the same limitations and restrictions 42
that are applicable to a district judge. 43
6. Except for the business court judges initially 44
appointed, the term of office of each business court judge 45
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must be 6 years. No person so appointed may serve more 1
than 2 consecutive terms. 2
7. Except for the initial chief judge of the business 3
court, the chief judge serves a term of 6 years. The chief 4
judge may: 5
(a) Succeed himself or herself. 6
(b) Resign the position of chief judge without resigning 7
from the business court. 8
And be it further 9
RESOLVED, That Section 1 of Article 6 of the Nevada 10
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 11
Section 1. 1. The judicial power of this State is vested 12
in a court system, comprising a Supreme Court, a court of 13
appeals, a business court, if the Legislature establishes such 14
a court pursuant to Section 3B of this Article, district courts 15
and justices of the peace. 16
2. The Legislature may also establish, as part of the 17
system, courts for municipal purposes only in incorporated 18
cities and towns. 19
And be it further 20
RESOLVED, That Section 4 of Article 6 of the Nevada 21
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 22
Sec. 4. 1. The Supreme Court and the court of appeals 23
have appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases arising in district 24
courts [,] or business court, if the Legislature establishes 25
such a court pursuant to Section 3B of this Article, and also 26
on questions of law alone in all criminal cases in which the 27
offense charged is within the original jurisdiction of 28
the district courts. The Supreme Court shall fix by rule the 29
jurisdiction of the court of appeals and shall provide for the 30
review, where appropriate, of appeals decided by the court of 31
appeals. The Supreme Court and the court of appeals have 32
power to issue writs of mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, quo 33
warranto and habeas corpus and also all writs necessary or 34
proper to the complete exercise of their jurisdiction. Each 35
justice of the Supreme Court and judge of the court of appeals 36
may issue writs of habeas corpus to any part of the State, 37
upon petition by, or on behalf of, any person held in actual 38
custody in this State and may make such writs returnable 39
before the issuing justice or judge or the court of which the 40
justice or judge is a member, or before any district court in 41
the State or any judge of a district court. 42
2. In case of the disability or disqualification, for any 43
cause, of a justice of the Supreme Court, the Governor may 44
designate a judge of the court of appeals or a district judge to 45
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sit in the place of the disqualified or disabled justice. The 1
judge designated by the Governor is entitled to receive his 2
actual expense of travel and otherwise while sitting in the 3
Supreme Court. 4
3. In the case of the disability or disqualification, for any 5
cause, of a judge of the court of appeals, the Governor may 6
designate a district judge to sit in the place of the disabled or 7
disqualified judge. The judge whom the Governor designates 8
is entitled to receive his actual expense of travel and 9
otherwise while sitting in the court of appeals. 10
And be it further 11
RESOLVED, That Section 7 of Article 6 of the Nevada 12
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 13
Sec. 7. The times of holding the Supreme Court, the 14
court of appeals , the business court, if the Legislature 15
establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B of this 16
Article, and the district courts must be as fixed by law. The 17
terms of the Supreme Court must be held at the seat of 18
government unless the Legislature otherwise provides by law, 19
except that the Supreme Court may hear oral argument at 20
other places in the State. The terms of the court of appeals 21
and the business court, if the Legislature establishes such a 22
court pursuant to Section 3B of this Article, must be held at 23
the place provided by law. The terms of the district courts 24
must be held at the county seats of their respective counties 25
unless the Legislature otherwise provides by law. 26
And be it further 27
RESOLVED, That Section 8 of Article 6 of the Nevada 28
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 29
Sec. 8. 1. The Legislature shall determine the number 30
of justices of the peace to be elected in each city and 31
township of the State and shall fix by law their qualifications, 32
their terms of office and the limits of their civil and criminal 33
jurisdiction, according to the amount in controversy, the 34
nature of the case, the penalty provided or any combination of 35
these. 36
2. The provisions of this section affecting the number, 37
qualifications, terms of office and jurisdiction of justices of 38
the peace become effective on the first Monday of January, 39
1979. 40
3. The Legislature shall also prescribe by law the 41
manner, and determine the cases, in which appeals may be 42
taken from justices and other courts. The Supreme Court, the 43
court of appeals, the business court, if the Legislature 44
establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B of this 45
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Article, the district courts and such other courts as the 1
Legislature designates are courts of record. 2
And be it further 3
RESOLVED, That Section 11 of Article 6 of the Nevada 4
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 5
Sec. 11. The justices of the Supreme Court, the judges 6
of the court of appeals , the business court judges, if the 7
Legislature establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B 8
of this Article, and the district judges are ineligible to any 9
office, other than a judicial office, during the term for which 10
they have been elected or appointed. All elections or 11
appointments of any such judges by the people, Legislature or 12
otherwise during said period to any office other than judicial 13
are void. 14
And be it further 15
RESOLVED, That Section 15 of Article 6 of the Nevada 16
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 17
Sec. 15. The justices of the Supreme Court, the judges 18
of the court of appeals, the business court judges, if the 19
Legislature establishes a business court pursuant to Section 20
3B of this Article, and the district judges are each entitled to 21
receive for their services a compensation to be fixed by law 22
and paid in the manner provided by law, which must not be 23
increased or diminished during the term for which they have 24
been elected [,] or appointed, unless a vacancy occurs, in 25
which case the successor of the former incumbent is entitled 26
to receive only such salary as may be provided by law at the 27
time of his election or appointment. A provision must be 28
made by law for setting apart from each year’s revenue a 29
sufficient amount of money to pay such compensation. 30
And be it further 31
RESOLVED, That Section 20 of Article 6 of the Nevada 32
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 33
Sec. 20. 1. When a vacancy occurs before the 34
expiration of any term of office in the Supreme Court , [or] 35
the court of appeals or the business court, if the Legislature 36
establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B of this 37
Article, or among the district judges, the Governor shall 38
appoint a justice or judge from among three nominees 39
selected for such individual vacancy by the Commission on 40
Judicial Selection. 41
2. [The] Except as otherwise provided in this 42
subsection, the term of office of any justice or judge so 43
appointed expires on the first Monday of January following 44
the next general election. Any business court judge who is 45
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appointed to fill a vacancy before the end of a term shall 1
serve the remainder of the unexpired term. 2
3. Each nomination for the Supreme Court , [or] the 3
court of appeals or the business court, if the Legislature 4
establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B of this 5
Article, must be made by the permanent Commission, 6
composed of: 7
(a) The Chief Justice or an associate justice designated by 8
him; 9
(b) Three members of the State Bar of Nevada, a public 10
corporation created by statute, appointed by its Board of 11
Governors; and 12
(c) Three persons, not members of the legal profession, 13
appointed by the Governor. 14
4. Each nomination for the district court must be made 15
by a temporary commission composed of: 16
(a) The permanent Commission; 17
(b) A member of the State Bar of Nevada resident in the 18
judicial district in which the vacancy occurs, appointed by the 19
Board of Governors of the State Bar of Nevada; and 20
(c) A resident of such judicial district, not a member of 21
the legal profession, appointed by the Governor. 22
5. If at any time the State Bar of Nevada ceases to exist 23
as a public corporation or ceases to include all attorneys 24
admitted to practice before the courts of this State, the 25
Legislature shall provide by law, or if it fails to do so the 26
Supreme Court shall provide by rule, for the appointment of 27
attorneys at law to the positions designated in this Section to 28
be occupied by members of the State Bar of Nevada. 29
6. The term of office of each appointive member of the 30
permanent Commission, except the first members, is 4 years. 31
Each appointing authority shall appoint one of the members 32
first appointed for a term of 2 years. If a vacancy occurs, the 33
appointing authority shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired 34
term. The additional members of a temporary commission 35
must be appointed when a vacancy occurs, and their terms 36
expire when the nominations for such vacancy have been 37
transmitted to the Governor. 38
7. An appointing authority shall not appoint to the 39
permanent Commission more than: 40
(a) One resident of any county. 41
(b) Two members of the same political party. 42
No member of the permanent Commission may be a 43
member of the Commission on Judicial Discipline. 44
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8. After the expiration of 30 days from the date on which 1
the Commission on Judicial Selection has delivered to him its 2
list of nominees for any vacancy, if the Governor has not 3
made the appointment required by this Section, he shall make 4
no other appointment to any public office until he has 5
appointed a justice or judge from the list submitted. 6
And be it further 7
RESOLVED, That Section 21 of Article 6 of the Nevada 8
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 9
Sec. 21. 1. A justice of the Supreme Court, a judge of 10
the court of appeals, a business court judge, if the 11
Legislature establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B 12
of this Article, a district judge, a justice of the peace or a 13
municipal judge may, in addition to the provision of Article 7 14
for impeachment, be censured, retired, removed or otherwise 15
disciplined by the Commission on Judicial Discipline. 16
Pursuant to rules governing appeals adopted by the Supreme 17
Court, a justice or judge may appeal from the action of the 18
Commission to the Supreme Court, which may reverse such 19
action or take any alternative action provided in this 20
subsection. 21
2. The Commission is composed of: 22
(a) Two justices or judges appointed by the Supreme 23
Court; 24
(b) Two members of the State Bar of Nevada, a public 25
corporation created by statute, appointed by its Board of 26
Governors; and 27
(c) Three persons, not members of the legal profession, 28
appointed by the Governor. 29
The Commission shall elect a Chairman from among its 30
three lay members. 31
3. If at any time the State Bar of Nevada ceases to exist 32
as a public corporation or ceases to include all attorneys 33
admitted to practice before the courts of this State, the 34
Legislature shall provide by law, or if it fails to do so the 35
Supreme Court shall provide by rule, for the appointment of 36
attorneys at law to the positions designated in this Section to 37
be occupied by members of the State Bar of Nevada. 38
4. The term of office of each appointive member of the 39
Commission, except the first members, is 4 years. Each 40
appointing authority shall appoint one of the members first 41
appointed for a term of 2 years. If a vacancy occurs, the 42
appointing authority shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired 43
term. An appointing authority shall not appoint more than one 44
resident of any county. The Governor shall not appoint more 45
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than two members of the same political party. No member 1
may be a member of a commission on judicial selection. 2
5. The Legislature shall establish: 3
(a) In addition to censure, retirement and removal, the 4
other forms of disciplinary action that the Commission may 5
impose; 6
(b) The grounds for censure and other disciplinary action 7
that the Commission may impose, including, but not limited 8
to, violations of the provisions of the Code of Judicial 9
Conduct; 10
(c) The standards for the investigation of matters relating 11
to the fitness of a justice or judge; and 12
(d) The confidentiality or nonconfidentiality, as 13
appropriate, of proceedings before the Commission, except 14
that, in any event, a decision to censure, retire or remove a 15
justice or judge must be made public. 16
6. The Supreme Court shall adopt a Code of Judicial 17
Conduct. 18
7. The Commission shall adopt rules of procedure for 19
the conduct of its hearings and any other procedural rules it 20
deems necessary to carry out its duties. 21
8. No justice or judge may by virtue of this Section be: 22
(a) Removed except for willful misconduct, willful or 23
persistent failure to perform the duties of his office or 24
habitual intemperance; or 25
(b) Retired except for advanced age which interferes with 26
the proper performance of his judicial duties, or for mental or 27
physical disability which prevents the proper performance of 28
his judicial duties and which is likely to be permanent in 29
nature. 30
9. Any matter relating to the fitness of a justice or judge 31
may be brought to the attention of the Commission by any 32
person or on the motion of the Commission. The Commission 33
shall, after preliminary investigation, dismiss the matter or 34
order a hearing to be held before it. If a hearing is ordered, a 35
statement of the matter must be served upon the justice or 36
judge against whom the proceeding is brought. The 37
Commission in its discretion may suspend a justice or judge 38
from the exercise of his office pending the determination of 39
the proceedings before the Commission. Any justice or judge 40
whose removal is sought is liable to indictment and 41
punishment according to law. A justice or judge retired for 42
disability in accordance with this Section is entitled thereafter 43
to receive such compensation as the Legislature may provide. 44
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10. If a proceeding is brought against a justice of the 1
Supreme Court, no justice of the Supreme Court may sit on 2
the Commission for that proceeding. If a proceeding is 3
brought against a judge of the court of appeals, no judge of 4
the court of appeals may sit on the Commission for that 5
proceeding. If a proceeding is brought against a district judge, 6
no district judge from the same judicial district may sit on the 7
Commission for that proceeding. If a proceeding is brought 8
against a justice of the peace, no justice of the peace from the 9
same township may sit on the Commission for that 10
proceeding. If a proceeding is brought against a municipal 11
judge, no municipal judge from the same city may sit on the 12
Commission for that proceeding. If an appeal is taken from an 13
action of the Commission to the Supreme Court, any justice 14
who sat on the Commission for that proceeding is disqualified 15
from participating in the consideration or decision of the 16
appeal. When any member of the Commission is disqualified 17
by this subsection, the Supreme Court shall appoint a 18
substitute from among the eligible judges. 19
11. The Commission may: 20
(a) Designate for each hearing an attorney or attorneys at 21
law to act as counsel to conduct the proceeding; 22
(b) Summon witnesses to appear and testify under oath 23
and compel the production of books, papers, documents and 24
records; 25
(c) Grant immunity from prosecution or punishment when 26
the Commission deems it necessary and proper in order to 27
compel the giving of testimony under oath and the production 28
of books, papers, documents and records; and 29
(d) Exercise such further powers as the Legislature may 30
from time to time confer upon it. 31
And be it further 32
RESOLVED, That Section 3 of Article 7 of the Nevada 33
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 34
Sec. 3. For any reasonable cause to be entered on the 35
journals of each House, which may or may not be sufficient 36
grounds for impeachment, the justices of the Supreme Court, 37
the judges of the court of appeals , the judges of the business 38
court, if the Legislature establishes such a court pursuant to 39
Section 3B of Article 6 of this Constitution, and the judges of 40
the district courts must be removed from office on the vote of 41
two thirds of the members elected to each branch of the 42
Legislature. The justice or judge complained of must be 43
served with a copy of the complaint against him, and have an 44
opportunity of being heard in person or by counsel in his 45
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defense. No member of either branch of the Legislature is 1
eligible to fill the vacancy occasioned by such removal. 2
And be it further 3
RESOLVED, That Section 8 of Article 15 of the Nevada 4
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 5
Sec. 8. The Legislature shall provide for the speedy 6
publication of all statute laws of a general nature and such 7
decisions of the Supreme Court , [and] the court of appeals 8
and the business court, if the Legislature establishes such a 9
court pursuant to Section 3B of Article 6 of this 10
Constitution, as it may deem expedient. All laws and judicial 11
decisions must be free for publication by any person. No 12
judgment of the Supreme Court , [or] the court of appeals or 13
the business court, if the Legislature establishes such a 14
court pursuant to Section 3B of Article 6 of this 15
Constitution, shall take effect and be operative until the 16
opinion of the court in such case is filed with the clerk of said 17
court. 18
And be it further 19
RESOLVED, That this resolution becomes effective upon 20
passage. 21
H