S.B. 62
- *SB62*
SENATE BILL NO. 62–COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
(ON BEHALF OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL)
PREFILED NOVEMBER 20, 2024
____________
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to crimes. (BDR 15-507)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: Increases or Newly
Provides for Term of Imprisonment in County or City
Jail or Detention Facility.
Effect on the State: Contains Appropriation not included
in Executive Budget.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to crimes; providing that a person who commits
certain acts because of certain actual or perceived
characteristics of a person is guilty of a bias crime;
creating a cause of action for a person who has suffered
injury as a result of a bias crime; requiring the Central
Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History to
make certain data relating to bias crimes available to the
public; creating the Account for Survivors of Crime and
prescribing the use of money in the Account; making an
appropriation to the Account; eliminating certain
duplicative definitions; providing a penalty; and providing
other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Section 1 of this bill provides that a person is guilty of a bias crime if the 1
person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, 2
physical or mental disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of 3
a person or group of persons, intentionally: (1) tampers or interferes with the 4
property of a person with the intent to substantially annoy or inconvenience the 5
person; (2) subjects a person to offensive physical contact; or (3) subjects a person 6
to alarm by making certain threats. Section 1 makes a bias crime punishable as a 7
misdemeanor. 8
Existing law authorizes a person who has suffered injury as the proximate 9
result of the commission of certain crimes by a perpetrator who was motivated by 10
certain characteristics of the injured person to bring a civil action to recover his or 11
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her actual damages and punitive damages. (NRS 41.690) Section 2 of this bill 12
additionally authorizes a person who has suffered injury as the proximate result of a 13
violation of section 1 to bring a civil action to recover his or her actual damages 14
and punitive damages. 15
Existing law requires the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal 16
History to make available to the public data regarding the prosecution of certain 17
crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice. (NRS 179A.175) Section 3 of this bill 18
additionally requires the Central Repository to make data regarding any prosecution 19
of a violation of section 1 available to the public. 20
Section 4 of this bill creates the Account for Survivors of Crime in the State 21
General Fund to be administered by the Attorney General. Section 4 requires 22
money in the Account to be used to provide support and resources to survivors of: 23
(1) hate crimes for which certain additional or enhanced penalties are imposed; (2) 24
bias crimes pursuant to section 1; and (3) any other crime prosecuted by the Office 25
of the Attorney General. Section 5 of this bill makes an appropriation to the 26
Account created by section 4 for the purposes described in section 4. 27
Existing law defines the term “gender identity or expression” and makes that 28
definition applicable to the Nevada Revised Statutes as a whole. (NRS 0.034) 29
Section 6 of this bill repeals a duplicative definition of the term “gender identity or 30
expression.” (NRS 193.0148) Sections 2 and 3 make conforming changes to 31
eliminate references to the definition repealed by section 6. 32
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Chapter 200 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 1
thereto a new section to read as follows: 2
1. A person commits a bias crime if the person, because of the 3
actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, physical 4
or mental disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or 5
expression of a person or group of persons, intentionally: 6
(a) Tampers or interferes with the property of a person with 7
the intent to substantially annoy or inconvenience the person; 8
(b) Subjects a person to offensive physical contact; or 9
(c) Subjects a person to alarm by threatening to: 10
(1) Inflict a bodily injury on the person or a member of the 11
family of the person; 12
(2) Commit a felony that affects the person or a member of 13
the family of the person; or 14
(3) Cause substantial damage to the property of the person 15
or the property of a member of the family of the person. 16
2. A person who violates subsection 1 is guilty of a 17
misdemeanor. 18
3. As used in this section, “property” has the meaning 19
ascribed to it in NRS 193.0225. 20
Sec. 2. NRS 41.690 is hereby amended to read as follows: 21
41.690 1. A person who has suffered injury as the proximate 22
result of the willful violation of the provisions of NRS 200.030, 23
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200.050, 200.280, 200.310, 200.366, 200.380, 200.400, 200.460, 1
200.463, 200.4631, 200.464, 200.465, 200.467, 200.468, 200.471, 2
200.481, 200.508, 200.5099, 200.571, 200.575, 202.448, 203.010, 3
203.020, 203.030, 203.060, 203.080, 203.090, 203.100, 203.110, 4
203.119, 205.010 to 205.025, inclusive, 205.060, 205.067, 205.075, 5
205.0832, 205.220, 205.226, 205.228, 205.240, 205.270, 205.2715, 6
205.274, 205.2741, 206.010, 206.040, 206.125, 206.140, 206.150, 7
206.200, 206.310, 206.330, 207.180, 207.190, 207.200, 207.210 or 8
392.915 or section 1 of this act by a perpetrator who was motivated 9
by the injured person’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, 10
national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation or 11
gender identity or expression may bring an action for the recovery 12
of his or her actual damages and any punitive damages which the 13
facts may warrant. If the person who has suffered injury prevails in 14
an action brought pursuant to this subsection, the court shall award 15
the person costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. 16
2. The liability imposed by this section is in addition to any 17
other liability imposed by law. 18
[3. As used in this section, “gender identity or expression” has 19
the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 193.0148.] 20
Sec. 3. NRS 179A.175 is hereby amended to read as follows: 21
179A.175 1. The Director of the Department shall establish 22
within the Central Repository a program for reporting crimes that 23
manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, color, religion, 24
national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation or 25
gender identity or expression. 26
2. The program must be designed to collect, compile and 27
analyze statistical data about crimes that manifest evidence of 28
prejudice based on race, color, religion, national origin, physical or 29
mental disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or 30
expression. The Director shall adopt guidelines for the collection of 31
the statistical data, including, but not limited to, the criteria to 32
establish the presence of prejudice and the manner in which the data 33
must be reported to the Central Repository. 34
3. The Central Repository shall include in any appropriate 35
report an independent section relating solely to the analysis of 36
crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, color, 37
religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual 38
orientation or gender identity or expression. 39
4. Data acquired pursuant to this section must be used only for 40
research or statistical purposes and must not contain any information 41
that may reveal the identity of an individual victim of a crime. 42
5. The Central Repository shall make all data acquired 43
pursuant to this section and data regarding any prosecution of a 44
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violation of NRS 207.185 or section 1 of this act and any sentence 1
imposed pursuant to NRS 193.1675 available to the public. 2
6. The Central Repository shall ensure that the data acquired 3
pursuant to this section is provided to the Federal Bureau of 4
Investigation for inclusion in the annual Hate Crime Statistics report 5
of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program. 6
[7. As used in this section, “gender identity or expression” has 7
the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 193.0148.] 8
Sec. 4. Chapter 228 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 9
thereto a new section to read as follows: 10
1. The Account for Survivors of Crime is hereby created in 11
the State General Fund. The Attorney General shall administer 12
the Account. 13
2. The money in the Account must only be used to provide 14
support and resources to survivors of hate crimes, bias crimes and 15
any other crime prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General. 16
3. The Attorney General may apply for and accept any 17
available grants, gifts, donations, bequests, devises or 18
appropriations from any public or private source to carry out the 19
purposes of this section. Any money received pursuant to this 20
section must be deposited with the State Treasurer for credit to the 21
Account. 22
4. All interest earned on the money in the Account, after 23
deducting any applicable charges, must be credited to the Account. 24
5. Money in the Account must remain in the Account and 25
does not revert to the State General Fund at the end of any fiscal 26
year. 27
6. All claims against the Account must be paid as other 28
claims against the State are paid. 29
7. As used in this section: 30
(a) “Bias crime” means a violation of section 1 of this act. 31
(b) “Hate crime” means a crime for which: 32
(1) An additional penalty is imposed pursuant to NRS 33
193.1675; or 34
(2) An enhanced penalty is imposed pursuant to 35
NRS 207.185. 36
Sec. 5. There is hereby appropriated from the State General 37
Fund to the Account for Survivors of Crime created by section 4 of 38
this act for the purposes described in section 4 of this act the 39
following sums: 40
For the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 .................................... $50,000 41
For the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 .................................... $50,000 42
Sec. 6. NRS 193.0148 is hereby repealed. 43
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TEXT OF REPEALED SECTION
193.0148 “Gender identity or expression” defined.
“Gender identity or expression” means the gender-related identity,
appearance, expression or behavior of a person, regardless of the
person’s assigned sex at birth.
H