Proposal would allow some first-time offenders to avoid jail

CARSON CITY — Arresting a suspect is a time-consuming process for law enforcement officials between detaining, transporting and booking the individual into jail. And then there’s the paperwork.

All told, it’s about a 90-minute process. Furthermore, each day that person spends in jail, it costs taxpayers about $200, at least at the Clark County Detention Center.

But what if it’s a first-time nonviolent misdemeanor offense: Should those people be taken to jail at all?

Assembly Bill 440 would relieve police of the time-consuming burden by requiring them to instead issue a citation to firsttime offenders of nonviolent misdemeanors, according to the bill’s proponents, who presented the legislation Tuesday before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

A report by the National Conference of State Legislators determined the citation process runs police no more than half an hour, according to Assemblyman Edgar Flores, D-las Vegas, who described AB 440 as a work in progress. The committee has taken no action on the bill.

Law enforcement, including Metro Police, prosecutors, the city of Henderson, and the city of Las Vegas swiftly came out in opposition.

The debate centered on officers’ use of discretionary powers, which the legislation strips when they’re dealing with suspects accused of nonviolent misdemeanors they haven’t been convicted of previously.

Discretionary powers still would be available when officers are dealing with persons not cooperating with their orders, if there’s a history of the person skipping out of court, if they refuse the sign the citation or if there are warrants out for their arrest.

Alleged offenders would need to provide “satisfactory evidence’’ of their identity, according to the bill.

Nonviolent misdemeanors in Nevada include theft and trespassing. Persons busted for DUI or suspected of domestic violence, and other violent misdemeanors,

Nonviolent misdemeanors in Nevada include theft and trespassing.

would still go to jail.

Law enforcement lobbyists led the opposition in the committee hearing.

Metro lobbyist Chuck Callaway said “a public citizen (during a citizen’s arrest) would have more police power than a police officer” if the bill becomes law. Speaking on behalf of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Lt. Corey Solferino said the legislation “handcuffs law enforcement.”

“Sometimes,” Callaway said,

“an arrest is needed to prevent a future problem.”

Officers already use similar discretionary powers with nonviolent misdemeanor cases. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic agencies such as Metro ordered their officers to only arrest people accused of more serious crimes to decrease jail populations, Flores said.

AB 440 “seeks to codify that good policy,” said John Piro with the Clark County Public Defenders’ Office. “The pandemic unfortunately showed us a way to work it out,” he added.

Callaway said that 90% of misdemeanor cases were already handled as citations only. He noted that only 11% of the Clark County Detention Center was occupied by misdemeanor offenders, and that most of them are facing DUI and domestic violence charges.

Callaway said there had been a 13% decrease in booking at the county jail since 2007. It wasn’t clear how significantly the coronavirus mitigation efforts were to the figure.

Before a Metro officer arrests a nonviolent misdemeanor suspect, unless it’s a DUI or domestic violence, the officer needs approval from a supervisor, he said.

Callaway predicts an increase of lawlessness if the bill is passed.

He asked lawmakers to consider their state of mind if they called the police on someone and that person wasn’t arrested. “How would that make you feel as a citizen?” Callaway asked.

Piro disputed what he described as a “fear tactic” used by opponents of the legislation: “When you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” he said.