(Reprinted with amendments adopted on April 15, 2025)
FIRST REPRINT 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.
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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
contractual disputes between business entities and any other business disputes of a 6
similar nature in which equitable or declaratory relief is sought. If the Legislature 7
establishes a business court, the constitutional amendment proposed by this 8
resolution requires the Legislature to: (1) establish by law a Special Nominating 9
Commission for the selection of nominees for the office of business court judge; (2) 10
provide by law for the appointment of business court judges by the Governor from 11
among three nominees for each seat chosen by the Commission; (3) prescribe by 12
law the powers, duties and responsibilities of any such judges; and (4) fix by law 13
the terms of any such judges. The constitutional amendment proposed by this 14
resolution also provides that if the Legislature establishes a business court, the 15
Supreme Court will have exclusive appellate jurisdiction of cases within the 16
original jurisdiction of the business court. Finally, the constitutional amendment 17
proposed by this resolution makes various conforming changes to provisions in the 18
Nevada Constitution relating to the business court. 19
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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 pursuant to 7
subsection 9. 8
2. If the Legislature provides by law for the 9
establishment of a business court pursuant to subsection 1, 10
the business court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction 11
to hear disputes involving shareholder rights, mergers and 12
acquisitions, fiduciary duties, receiverships involving 13
business entities and other commercial or contractual 14
disputes between business entities and any other business 15
disputes of a similar nature in which equitable or 16
declaratory relief is sought. Upon receipt of a petition, the 17
chief judge of the business court may, in his or her 18
reasonable discretion, order the transfer of a dispute 19
presented to the business court to the appropriate district 20
court if the chief judge finds that the dispute would be more 21
appropriately adjudicated in the district court. 22
3. If the Legislature provides by law for the 23
establishment of a business court pursuant to subsection 1, 24
the Legislature shall: 25
(a) Establish by law a Special Nominating Commission 26
for the selection of nominees for the office of business court 27
judge and prescribe by law the composition of the 28
Commission in accordance with subsection 5; 29
(b) Prescribe by law the procedures governing the 30
nomination process of the Special Nominating Commission; 31
(c) Provide for the appointment of: 32
(1) Business court judges by the Governor in 33
accordance with subsection 4; and 34
(2) A chief judge of the business court by the Chief 35
Justice of the Supreme Court; 36
(d) Prescribe by law the powers, duties and 37
responsibilities of business court judges in accordance with 38
subsection 6; and 39
(e) Fix by law the: 40
(1) Terms of office of business court judges in 41
accordance with subsection 7; and 42
(2) Term of a chief judge of the business court in 43
accordance with subsection 8. 44
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4. The judges of the business court must be appointed 1
by the Governor from among three nominees selected for 2
each individual seat by the Special Nominating Commission 3
established pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection 3. A 4
nominee selected by the Commission must, as determined in 5
the reasonable discretion of the Commission, have 6
substantial experience as a practitioner or judge in one or 7
more areas of law within the jurisdiction of the business 8
court. 9
5. The Special Nominating Commission must be 10
composed of: 11
(a) The Speaker of the Assembly; 12
(b) The Majority Leader of the Senate; 13
(c) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada; 14
(d) The Chief Judges of the two most populous judicial 15
districts; 16
(e) A district judge from a judicial district other than the 17
two most populous judicial districts; and 18
(f) Such additional members as the Legislature may 19
prescribe by law. 20
6. A business court judge must, for matters within the 21
jurisdiction of the business court, have the same powers and 22
duties and be subject to the same limitations and restrictions 23
that are applicable to a district judge. 24
7. Except for the business court judges initially 25
appointed, the term of office of each business court judge 26
must be 6 years. Each business court judge who desires to 27
succeed himself or herself must, on or before July 1 next 28
preceding the expiration of his or her term of office, declare 29
his or her candidacy in the manner provided by law. With 30
respect to each business court judge who so declares, the 31
question must be presented at the next general election, in a 32
form provided by law, whether that business court judge 33
shall succeed himself or herself. If 55 percent or more of 34
the votes cast on the question are in favor of the business 35
court judge succeeding himself or herself, the business 36
court judge shall succeed himself or herself. The term of 37
office of each business court judge who succeeds himself or 38
herself is 6 years, and that term begins on the first Monday 39
of January next following the general election at which the 40
business court judge was chosen to succeed himself or 41
herself. If a judge does not declare his or her candidacy or 42
if less than 55 percent of the votes cast on the question are 43
cast in favor of the business court judge succeeding himself 44
or herself, a vacancy is created at the expiration of his or 45
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her term which must be filled by appointment pursuant to 1
subsection 4. 2
8. 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
9. If the Legislature provides by law for the 9
establishment of a business court pursuant to subsection 1, 10
the Legislature may, as the caseload of the business court 11
may require and to the extent that money is available 12
therefor, provide by law for an increase or decrease in the 13
number of business court judges or divisions of the business 14
court as may be necessary for the proper and timely 15
administration of the business court docket. 16
10. The Supreme Court has exclusive appellate 17
jurisdiction in all cases arising in a business court. 18
And be it further 19
RESOLVED, That Section 1 of Article 6 of the Nevada 20
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 21
Section 1. 1. The judicial power of this State is vested 22
in a court system, comprising a Supreme Court, a court of 23
appeals, a business court, if the Legislature establishes such 24
a court pursuant to Section 3B of this Article, district courts 25
and justices of the peace. 26
2. The Legislature may also establish, as part of the 27
system, courts for municipal purposes only in incorporated 28
cities and towns. 29
And be it further 30
RESOLVED, That Section 7 of Article 6 of the Nevada 31
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 32
Sec. 7. The times of holding the Supreme Court, the 33
court of appeals , the business court, if the Legislature 34
establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B of this 35
Article, and the district courts must be as fixed by law. The 36
terms of the Supreme Court must be held at the seat of 37
government unless the Legislature otherwise provides by law, 38
except that the Supreme Court may hear oral argument at 39
other places in the State. The terms of the court of appeals 40
and the business court, if the Legislature establishes such a 41
court pursuant to Section 3B of this Article, must be held at 42
the place provided by law. The terms of the district courts 43
must be held at the county seats of their respective counties 44
unless the Legislature otherwise provides by law. 45
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And be it further 1
RESOLVED, That Section 8 of Article 6 of the Nevada 2
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 3
Sec. 8. 1. The Legislature shall determine the number 4
of justices of the peace to be elected in each city and 5
township of the State and shall fix by law their qualifications, 6
their terms of office and the limits of their civil and criminal 7
jurisdiction, according to the amount in controversy, the 8
nature of the case, the penalty provided or any combination of 9
these. 10
2. The provisions of this section affecting the number, 11
qualifications, terms of office and jurisdiction of justices of 12
the peace become effective on the first Monday of January, 13
1979. 14
3. The Legislature shall also prescribe by law the 15
manner, and determine the cases, in which appeals may be 16
taken from justices and other courts. The Supreme Court, the 17
court of appeals, the business court, if the Legislature 18
establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B of this 19
Article, the district courts and such other courts as the 20
Legislature designates are courts of record. 21
And be it further 22
RESOLVED, That Section 11 of Article 6 of the Nevada 23
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 24
Sec. 11. The justices of the Supreme Court, the judges 25
of the court of appeals , the business court judges, if the 26
Legislature establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B 27
of this Article, and the district judges are ineligible to any 28
office, other than a judicial office, during the term for which 29
they have been elected or appointed. All elections or 30
appointments of any such judges by the people, Legislature or 31
otherwise during said period to any office other than judicial 32
are void. 33
And be it further 34
RESOLVED, That Section 15 of Article 6 of the Nevada 35
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 36
Sec. 15. The justices of the Supreme Court, the judges 37
of the court of appeals, the business court judges, if the 38
Legislature establishes a business court pursuant to Section 39
3B of this Article, and the district judges are each entitled to 40
receive for their services a compensation to be fixed by law 41
and paid in the manner provided by law, which must not be 42
increased or diminished during the term for which they have 43
been elected [,] or appointed, unless a vacancy occurs, in 44
which case the successor of the former incumbent is entitled 45
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to receive only such salary as may be provided by law at the 1
time of his election or appointment. A provision must be 2
made by law for setting apart from each year’s revenue a 3
sufficient amount of money to pay such compensation. 4
And be it further 5
RESOLVED, That Section 20 of Article 6 of the Nevada 6
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 7
Sec. 20. 1. When a vacancy occurs before the 8
expiration of any term of office in the Supreme Court , [or] 9
the court of appeals or the business court, if the Legislature 10
establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B of this 11
Article, or among the district judges, the Governor shall 12
appoint a justice or judge from among three nominees 13
selected for such individual vacancy by the Commission on 14
Judicial Selection or the Special Nominating Commission, 15
as applicable. 16
2. [The] Except as otherwise provided in this 17
subsection, the term of office of any justice or judge so 18
appointed expires on the first Monday of January following 19
the next general election. Any business court judge who is 20
appointed to fill a vacancy before the end of a term shall 21
serve the remainder of the unexpired term. 22
3. Each nomination for the Supreme Court or the court 23
of appeals must be made by the permanent Commission, 24
composed of: 25
(a) The Chief Justice or an associate justice designated by 26
him; 27
(b) Three members of the State Bar of Nevada, a public 28
corporation created by statute, appointed by its Board of 29
Governors; and 30
(c) Three persons, not members of the legal profession, 31
appointed by the Governor. 32
4. Each nomination for the district court must be made 33
by a temporary commission composed of: 34
(a) The permanent Commission; 35
(b) A member of the State Bar of Nevada resident in the 36
judicial district in which the vacancy occurs, appointed by the 37
Board of Governors of the State Bar of Nevada; and 38
(c) A resident of such judicial district, not a member of 39
the legal profession, appointed by the Governor. 40
5. If at any time the State Bar of Nevada ceases to exist 41
as a public corporation or ceases to include all attorneys 42
admitted to practice before the courts of this State, the 43
Legislature shall provide by law, or if it fails to do so the 44
Supreme Court shall provide by rule, for the appointment of 45
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attorneys at law to the positions designated in this Section to 1
be occupied by members of the State Bar of Nevada. 2
6. The term of office of each appointive member of the 3
permanent Commission, except the first members, is 4 years. 4
Each appointing authority shall appoint one of the members 5
first appointed for a term of 2 years. If a vacancy occurs, the 6
appointing authority shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired 7
term. The additional members of a temporary commission 8
must be appointed when a vacancy occurs, and their terms 9
expire when the nominations for such vacancy have been 10
transmitted to the Governor. 11
7. An appointing authority shall not appoint to the 12
permanent Commission more than: 13
(a) One resident of any county. 14
(b) Two members of the same political party. 15
No member of the permanent Commission may be a 16
member of the Commission on Judicial Discipline. 17
8. After the expiration of 30 days from the date on which 18
the Commission on Judicial Selection has delivered to him its 19
list of nominees for any vacancy, if the Governor has not 20
made the appointment required by this Section, he shall make 21
no other appointment to any public office until he has 22
appointed a justice or judge from the list submitted. 23
And be it further 24
RESOLVED, That Section 21 of Article 6 of the Nevada 25
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 26
Sec. 21. 1. A justice of the Supreme Court, a judge of 27
the court of appeals, a business court judge, if the 28
Legislature establishes such a court pursuant to Section 3B 29
of this Article, a district judge, a justice of the peace or a 30
municipal judge may, in addition to the provision of Article 7 31
for impeachment, be censured, retired, removed or otherwise 32
disciplined by the Commission on Judicial Discipline. 33
Pursuant to rules governing appeals adopted by the Supreme 34
Court, a justice or judge may appeal from the action of the 35
Commission to the Supreme Court, which may reverse such 36
action or take any alternative action provided in this 37
subsection. 38
2. The Commission is composed of: 39
(a) Two justices or judges appointed by the Supreme 40
Court; 41
(b) Two members of the State Bar of Nevada, a public 42
corporation created by statute, appointed by its Board of 43
Governors; and 44
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(c) Three persons, not members of the legal profession, 1
appointed by the Governor. 2
The Commission shall elect a Chairman from among its 3
three lay members. 4
3. If at any time the State Bar of Nevada ceases to exist 5
as a public corporation or ceases to include all attorneys 6
admitted to practice before the courts of this State, the 7
Legislature shall provide by law, or if it fails to do so the 8
Supreme Court shall provide by rule, for the appointment of 9
attorneys at law to the positions designated in this Section to 10
be occupied by members of the State Bar of Nevada. 11
4. The term of office of each appointive member of the 12
Commission, except the first members, is 4 years. Each 13
appointing authority shall appoint one of the members first 14
appointed for a term of 2 years. If a vacancy occurs, the 15
appointing authority shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired 16
term. An appointing authority shall not appoint more than one 17
resident of any county. The Governor shall not appoint more 18
than two members of the same political party. No member 19
may be a member of a commission on judicial selection. 20
5. The Legislature shall establish: 21
(a) In addition to censure, retirement and removal, the 22
other forms of disciplinary action that the Commission may 23
impose; 24
(b) The grounds for censure and other disciplinary action 25
that the Commission may impose, including, but not limited 26
to, violations of the provisions of the Code of Judicial 27
Conduct; 28
(c) The standards for the investigation of matters relating 29
to the fitness of a justice or judge; and 30
(d) The confidentiality or nonconfidentiality, as 31
appropriate, of proceedings before the Commission, except 32
that, in any event, a decision to censure, retire or remove a 33
justice or judge must be made public. 34
6. The Supreme Court shall adopt a Code of Judicial 35
Conduct. 36
7. The Commission shall adopt rules of procedure for 37
the conduct of its hearings and any other procedural rules it 38
deems necessary to carry out its duties. 39
8. No justice or judge may by virtue of this Section be: 40
(a) Removed except for willful misconduct, willful or 41
persistent failure to perform the duties of his office or 42
habitual intemperance; or 43
(b) Retired except for advanced age which interferes with 44
the proper performance of his judicial duties, or for mental or 45
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physical disability which prevents the proper performance of 1
his judicial duties and which is likely to be permanent in 2
nature. 3
9. Any matter relating to the fitness of a justice or judge 4
may be brought to the attention of the Commission by any 5
person or on the motion of the Commission. The Commission 6
shall, after preliminary investigation, dismiss the matter or 7
order a hearing to be held before it. If a hearing is ordered, a 8
statement of the matter must be served upon the justice or 9
judge against whom the proceeding is brought. The 10
Commission in its discretion may suspend a justice or judge 11
from the exercise of his office pending the determination of 12
the proceedings before the Commission. Any justice or judge 13
whose removal is sought is liable to indictment and 14
punishment according to law. A justice or judge retired for 15
disability in accordance with this Section is entitled thereafter 16
to receive such compensation as the Legislature may provide. 17
10. If a proceeding is brought against a justice of the 18
Supreme Court, no justice of the Supreme Court may sit on 19
the Commission for that proceeding. If a proceeding is 20
brought against a judge of the court of appeals, no judge of 21
the court of appeals may sit on the Commission for that 22
proceeding. If a proceeding is brought against a business 23
court judge, if the Legislature establishes such a court 24
pursuant to section 3B of this Article, no judge of the 25
business court may sit on the Commission for that 26
proceeding. If a proceeding is brought against a district 27
judge, no district judge from the same judicial district may sit 28
on the Commission for that proceeding. If a proceeding is 29
brought against a justice of the peace, no justice of the peace 30
from the same township may sit on the Commission for that 31
proceeding. If a proceeding is brought against a municipal 32
judge, no municipal judge from the same city may sit on the 33
Commission for that proceeding. If an appeal is taken from an 34
action of the Commission to the Supreme Court, any justice 35
who sat on the Commission for that proceeding is disqualified 36
from participating in the consideration or decision of the 37
appeal. When any member of the Commission is disqualified 38
by this subsection, the Supreme Court shall appoint a 39
substitute from among the eligible judges. 40
11. The Commission may: 41
(a) Designate for each hearing an attorney or attorneys at 42
law to act as counsel to conduct the proceeding; 43
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(b) Summon witnesses to appear and testify under oath 1
and compel the production of books, papers, documents and 2
records; 3
(c) Grant immunity from prosecution or punishment when 4
the Commission deems it necessary and proper in order to 5
compel the giving of testimony under oath and the production 6
of books, papers, documents and records; and 7
(d) Exercise such further powers as the Legislature may 8
from time to time confer upon it. 9
And be it further 10
RESOLVED, That Section 3 of Article 7 of the Nevada 11
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 12
Sec. 3. For any reasonable cause to be entered on the 13
journals of each House, which may or may not be sufficient 14
grounds for impeachment, the justices of the Supreme Court, 15
the judges of the court of appeals , the judges of the business 16
court, if the Legislature establishes such a court pursuant to 17
Section 3B of Article 6 of this Constitution, and the judges of 18
the district courts must be removed from office on the vote of 19
two thirds of the members elected to each branch of the 20
Legislature. The justice or judge complained of must be 21
served with a copy of the complaint against him, and have an 22
opportunity of being heard in person or by counsel in his 23
defense. No member of either branch of the Legislature is 24
eligible to fill the vacancy occasioned by such removal. 25
And be it further 26
RESOLVED, That Section 8 of Article 15 of the Nevada 27
Constitution be amended to read as follows: 28
Sec. 8. The Legislature shall provide for the speedy 29
publication of all statute laws of a general nature and such 30
decisions of the Supreme Court , [and] the court of appeals 31
and the business court, if the Legislature establishes such a 32
court pursuant to Section 3B of Article 6 of this 33
Constitution, as it may deem expedient. All laws and judicial 34
decisions must be free for publication by any person. No 35
judgment of the Supreme Court , [or] the court of appeals or 36
the business court, if the Legislature establishes such a 37
court pursuant to Section 3B of Article 6 of this 38
Constitution, shall take effect and be operative until the 39
opinion of the court in such case is filed with the clerk of said 40
court. 41
And be it further 42
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RESOLVED, That this resolution becomes effective upon 1
passage. 2
H