S.B. 380
- *SB380*
SENATE BILL NO. 380–SENATORS OHRENSCHALL;
AND DONDERO LOOP
MARCH 17, 2025
____________
Referred to Committee on Government Affairs
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to autism spectrum
disorders. (BDR 23-118)
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 autism; requiring peace officers to complete
certain training concerning autism spectrum disorders;
authorizing an applicant for registration as a registered
behavior technician to engage in the supervised practice
of applied behavior analysis under certain conditions; and
providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law requires a peace officer, as a condition of certification, to 1
complete training concerning identifying and interacting with persons with 2
developmental disabilities, including, without limitation, autism. (NRS 289.605) 3
Section 3 of this bill requires such training to include at least 4 hours of in-person 4
instruction in certain specific topics relating to autism spectrum disorders. Section 5
2 of this bill requires continuing education for peace officers to include training in 6
interactions with persons with developmental disabilities, including training on 7
recognizing and responding to persons with an autism spectrum disorder. Section 1 8
of this bill defines the term “autism spectrum disorder” for the purposes of sections 9
2 and 3. 10
Existing law provides for the registration of registered behavior technicians 11
who provide applied behavior analysis services under the supervision of a licensed 12
behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst to persons with autism spectrum 13
disorder in this State. (NRS 641D.300, 641D.310, 641D.600, 641D.610) Existing 14
law requires the Board of Applied Behavior Analysis to issue a determination to an 15
applicant for registration as a registered behavior technician not more than 120 days 16
after receiving his or her application for registration. (NRS 641D.310) Section 4 of 17
this bill authorizes an applicant for such registration to engage in the practice of 18
applied behavior analysis under the direct supervision of a licensed behavior 19
analyst until the Board issues a determination. 20
– 2 –
- *SB380*
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 289.010 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
289.010 As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise 2
requires: 3
1. “Administrative file” means any file of a peace officer 4
containing information, comments or documents about the peace 5
officer. The term does not include any file relating to an 6
investigation conducted pursuant to NRS 289.057 or a criminal 7
investigation of a peace officer. 8
2. “Adult use of cannabis” has the meaning ascribed to it in 9
NRS 678A.075. 10
3. “Autism spectrum disorder” means a condition that meets 11
the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder published in 12
the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of 13
Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric 14
Association or the edition thereof that was in effect at the time the 15
condition was diagnosed or determined. 16
4. “Law enforcement agency” means any agency, office, 17
bureau, department, unit or division created by any statute, 18
ordinance or rule which: 19
(a) Has a duty to enforce the law; and 20
(b) Employs any person upon whom some or all of the powers 21
of a peace officer are conferred pursuant to NRS 289.150 to 22
289.360, inclusive. 23
[4.] 5. “Medical use of cannabis” has the meaning ascribed to 24
it in NRS 678A.215. 25
[5.] 6. “Peace officer” means any person upon whom some or 26
all of the powers of a peace officer are conferred pursuant to NRS 27
289.150 to 289.360, inclusive. 28
[6.] 7. “Punitive action” means any action which may lead to 29
dismissal, demotion, suspension, reduction in salary, written 30
reprimand or transfer of a peace officer for purposes of punishment. 31
[7.] 8. “Screening test” means a test of a person’s blood, urine, 32
hair or saliva to detect the general presence of a controlled substance 33
or other drug. 34
Sec. 2. NRS 289.510 is hereby amended to read as follows: 35
289.510 1. The Commission: 36
(a) Shall meet at the call of the Chair, who must be elected by a 37
majority vote of the members of the Commission. 38
(b) Shall provide for and encourage the training and education 39
of persons whose primary duty is law enforcement to ensure the 40
safety of the residents of and visitors to this State. 41
– 3 –
- *SB380*
(c) May make necessary inquiries to determine whether the 1
agencies of this State and of the local governments are complying 2
with standards set forth in the regulations adopted pursuant to 3
subsection 2. 4
(d) Shall carry out the duties required of the Commission 5
pursuant to NRS 432B.610 and 432B.620. 6
(e) May perform any other acts that may be necessary and 7
appropriate to the functions of the Commission as set forth in NRS 8
289.450 to 289.680, inclusive. 9
(f) May enter into an interlocal agreement with an Indian tribe to 10
provide training to and certification of persons employed as police 11
officers by that Indian tribe. 12
(g) Shall develop and approve a standard curriculum of certified 13
training programs in crisis intervention, which may be made 14
available in an electronic format, and which address specialized 15
responses to persons with mental illness and train peace officers to 16
identify the signs and symptoms of mental illness, to de-escalate 17
situations involving persons who appear to be experiencing a 18
behavioral health crisis and, if appropriate, to connect such persons 19
to treatment. A peace officer who completes any program developed 20
pursuant to this paragraph must be issued a certificate of 21
completion. 22
2. The Commission shall adopt regulations establishing 23
minimum standards for: 24
(a) The certification and decertification, recruitment, selection 25
and training of peace officers. The standards adopted pursuant to 26
this paragraph must: 27
(1) Establish requirements for evaluations to be conducted 28
during the recruitment and selection of peace officers, which must 29
identify implicit bias on the part of a peace officer on the basis of 30
race, color, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, 31
sexual orientation or gender identity or expression; 32
(2) Establish requirements for basic training for category I, 33
category II and category III peace officers and reserve peace 34
officers; 35
(3) Establish standards for programs for the continuing 36
education of peace officers, including minimum courses of study 37
and requirements concerning attendance, which must require that all 38
peace officers annually complete not less than 12 hours of 39
continuing education in courses that address: 40
(I) Racial profiling; 41
(II) Mental health, including, without limitation, crisis 42
intervention; 43
(III) The well-being of officers; 44
(IV) Implicit bias recognition; 45
– 4 –
- *SB380*
(V) De-escalation; 1
(VI) Human trafficking; [and] 2
(VII) Firearms; and 3
(VIII) Interactions with persons with developmental 4
disabilities which must include, without limitation, training on 5
recognizing and responding to persons with an autism spectrum 6
disorder; 7
(4) Establish qualifications for instructors of peace officers; 8
(5) Establish requirements for the certification of a course of 9
training; 10
(6) Require all peace officers to receive training in the 11
handling of cases involving abuse or neglect of children or missing 12
children; 13
(7) Require all peace officers to receive training in the 14
handling of cases involving abuse, neglect, exploitation, isolation 15
and abandonment of older persons or vulnerable persons; 16
(8) Not prohibit the certification of an applicant solely on the 17
basis that the applicant has engaged in the adult use of cannabis or 18
the medical use of cannabis; 19
(9) Not require the decertification of a peace officer solely on 20
the basis that the peace officer has engaged in the adult use of 21
cannabis or the medical use of cannabis; and 22
(10) Require the decertification of a peace officer upon a 23
determination by the Commission that the peace officer knowingly 24
provided false or misleading information in his or her application 25
for certification. 26
(b) An annual behavioral wellness visit for peace officers to aid 27
in preserving the emotional and mental health of the peace officer 28
and assessing any conditions that may affect the performance of 29
duties by the peace officer. 30
(c) The reciprocity of a person who has been certified as a 31
category III peace officer or its equivalent by the certifying 32
authority of another state or who has successfully completed a 33
federal law enforcement training program that is equivalent to a 34
category III peace officer in this State. 35
3. The regulations adopted by the Commission pursuant to 36
subsection 2: 37
(a) Apply to all agencies of this State and of local governments 38
in this State that employ persons as peace officers; and 39
(b) May require that training be carried on at institutions which 40
it approves in those regulations. 41
4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a law 42
enforcement agency from adopting a policy that requires a peace 43
officer to submit to a screening test as: 44
(a) A condition precedent to employment; or 45
– 5 –
- *SB380*
(b) A condition for continued employment. 1
Sec. 3. NRS 289.605 is hereby amended to read as follows: 2
289.605 1. The Commission shall require, as a condition of 3
the certification of each peace officer, the completion of training 4
concerning identifying and interacting with persons with 5
developmental disabilities. Such training must include, without 6
limitation, at least 4 hours of in-person training concerning: 7
(a) The nature and manifestation of autism spectrum 8
disorders; 9
(b) Appropriate techniques for interviewing or interrogating a 10
person with an autism spectrum disorder; 11
(c) Techniques for locating a person with an autism spectrum 12
disorder who is missing and in danger, with as little stress as 13
possible for the person with an autism spectrum disorder; 14
(d) Techniques for recognizing the agency of a person with an 15
autism spectrum disorder while identifying potentially abusive or 16
coercive situations; 17
(e) Techniques for deescalating a potentially dangerous 18
situation involving a person with an autism spectrum disorder to 19
protect the safety of the peace officer and the person with an 20
autism spectrum disorder; 21
(f) Techniques for differentiating between a person with an 22
autism spectrum disorder and a person who does not have an 23
autism spectrum disorder but is acting belligerently, 24
uncooperatively or otherwise similarly to a person with an autism 25
spectrum disorder; 26
(g) Procedures to identify and address challenges related to the 27
safety of persons with an autism spectrum disorder in correctional 28
facilities; and 29
(h) The impact of interacting with peace officers on persons 30
with autism spectrum disorders. 31
2. Training completed pursuant to this section also satisfies the 32
requirement for such training prescribed by NRS 450B.160 or 33
450B.180, if applicable. 34
3. As used in this section, “developmental disability” has the 35
meaning ascribed to it in NRS 435.007. 36
Sec. 4. NRS 641D.130 is hereby amended to read as follows: 37
641D.130 1. A person who has matriculated at an accredited 38
college or university and is not licensed or registered pursuant to 39
this chapter may practice applied behavior analysis under the direct 40
supervision of a licensed behavior analyst as part of: 41
(a) A program in applied behavior analysis offered by the 42
college or university in which he or she is enrolled; or 43
(b) An internship or fellowship. 44
– 6 –
- *SB380*
2. An applicant for a registration as a registered behavior 1
technician who has the qualifications prescribed by NRS 2
641D.310 may, after submitting an application pursuant to NRS 3
641D.300 and the fee required by NRS 641D.380, engage in the 4
practice of applied behavior analysis under the direct supervision 5
of a licensed behavior analyst who is professionally and legally 6
responsible for the performance of the applicant until the Board 7
issues a determination pursuant to NRS 641D.310. 8
3. A person described in [subsection] subsections 1 [:] and 2: 9
(a) Shall clearly identify himself or herself to any person to 10
whom he or she provides applied behavior analysis services as : 11
(1) If he or she is a person described in subsection 1, a 12
student, intern, trainee or fellow; or 13
(2) If he or she is a person described in subsection 2, a 14
registered behavior technician pending registration; and 15
(b) Shall not identify himself or herself as a behavior analyst, 16
assistant behavior analyst or registered behavior technician, or 17
represent or imply that he or she is licensed or registered pursuant to 18
this chapter. 19
Sec. 5. 1. This section becomes effective upon passage and 20
approval. 21
2. Sections 1 to 4, inclusive, of this act become effective: 22
(a) Upon passage and approval for the purpose of adopting any 23
regulations and performing any other preparatory administrative 24
tasks that are necessary to carry out the provisions of this act; and 25
(b) On October 1, 2025, for all other purposes. 26
H