Nevada Law And Government

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The Governor of Nevada is Jim Gibbons (Republican). Nevada's two U.S. senators are Harry Reid (Democrat) and John Ensign (Republican).

The Nevada Legislature is a bicameral body divided into an upper house Senate and a lower house Assembly. Members of the Senate serve for four years, and members of the Assembly serve for two years. Both houses of the Nevada Legislature will be impacted by term limits starting in 2010, as Senators and Assemblymen/women will be limited to a maximum of 12 years service in each house (lifetime limit) - this provision has not been strictly enforced, as voters imposed term limits on the legislature back in mid to late 1990's, but rulings by the Nevada Attorney General's office have stated that term limits cannot go into effect prior to 2010. Each session of the Legislature meets for a constitutionally mandated 120 days in every odd-numbered year, or longer if the Governor calls a special session. Currently, the Senate is controlled by the Republican Party (11 to 10 majority) and the Assembly is controlled by the Democratic Party (27 to 15 majority).

Nevada is one of the few U.S. states without a system of intermediate appellate courts. It has a state supreme court, the Supreme Court of Nevada, which hears all appeals. The court lacks the power of discretionary review, so Nevada's judicial system is extremely congested. There have been several articles accusing judges in Nevada of making biased or favored decisions as the result of case outcomes and reporting done by the Los Angeles Times newspaper (in which it raised the issue of justice for sale).

Original jurisdiction is divided between the District Courts (with general jurisdiction), and Justice Courts and Municipal Courts (both of limited jurisdiction).

In 1900, Nevada's population was the smallest of all states and was shrinking, as the difficulties of living in a "barren desert" began to outweigh the lure of silver for many early settlers. Historian Lawrence Friedman has explained what happened next:

Besides prostitution laws (See Prostitution in Nevada), a number of laws in Nevada, to this day, are noticeably more liberal than in most other states:

Nevada's early reputation as a "divorce haven" arose from the fact that prior to the no-fault divorce revolution in the 1970s, divorces were quite difficult to obtain in the United States. To boost its fragile economy, Nevada adopted one of the most liberal divorce statutes in the nation. This resulted in Williams v. North Carolina, 317 U.S. 287 (1942), in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that North Carolina had to give "full faith and credit" to a Nevada divorce.

Nevada is currently the only state that has different ages of consent for different sexual practices. An adult may have "ordinary sexual intercourse, anal intercourse, cunnilingus or fellatio" with another person that is 16 years old or older (NRS 200.364); however a different law makes it illegal to incite, entice, or solicit any minor (a person under 18) to engage in an "infamous crime against nature". (NRS 201.195). (See also: Age of Consent).

Nevada's tax laws also draw new residents and businesses to the state. Nevada has no personal income tax or corporate income tax. [3].

Nevada also provides friendly environment for the formation of corporations, and many (especially California) businesspeople have incorporated their businesses in Nevada to take advantage of the benefits of the Nevada statute. Nevada Corporations offer great flexibility to the Board of Directors and simplify or avoid many of the rules that are cumbersome to business managers in some other states. In addition, Nevada has no franchise tax.

Similarly, many U.S. states have usury laws limiting the amount of interest a lender can charge, but Federal law allows corporations to 'import' these laws from their home state. Nevada (amongst others) has relatively lax interest laws, in effect allowing banks to charge as much as they want, hence the preponderance of credit card companies in the state.[citation needed]

This is a notable exception to Nevada's otherwise libertarian principles. It is notable for having the harshest penalties for drug offenders in the country. Nevada remains the only state to still use mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for marijuana possession. However, it is now a misdemenor for possesion of less than one ounce. Also, Nevada is one of the states that allows for use of marijuana for medical reasons. Nevada's smoking ban is similar to Ohio's.

Due to the tremendous growth of Las Vegas in recent years, there is a noticeable divide between politics of northern and southern Nevada. The north has long maintained control of key positions in the state government even while the population of the Las Vegas area is larger than the rest of the state. This has fostered resentment as the north sees the south as a potential bully of majority rule and the south sees the north as the "old guard" trying to rule as an oligarchy. However, due to a recent term limit law passed by the voters, some of the North's hold over key positions will soon be forfeited to the South, leaving Northern Nevada with less power. Most people outside the state are not familiar with this rivalry. According to official statistics, party registration numbers show that 40.5% of voters are registered Republicans, with 40.1% being Democrats and 19.3% of voters being Independents.

The state is not dominated by either major political party and is a Bellwether state in both state and federal politics. Republicans won Nevada three times in the 1980s. Democrat Bill Clinton won the state in the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections and Republican George Bush won Nevada in 2000 and 2004. In 2004, George Bush narrowly won the state's 5 electoral votes by a margin of 2 percentage points with 50.5% of the vote. Las Vegas' Clark County, which contains the vast majority of the state's population, was the only county to vote Democratic.

The state's United States Senators are newly-elevated Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), a native of the town of Searchlight, and Senator John Ensign (R).

In state politics, both Democrats and Republicans have gained control of the governorship and the Nevada Legislature, with often cross-party support for varying candidates and politicians. However, no party has yet had concrete control of the Legislature or governorship in recent years.

• Department of Administration
• Department of Agriculture
• Attorney General
• Department of Business & Industry
• Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
• Consumer Health Assistance
• Controller's Office
• Department of Correction
• Department of Cultural Affairs
• Nevada Commission on Economic Development
• Department of Education
• Nevada Secretary of State, Election Division
• Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation
• Gaming Control Board
• Governor's Office
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Information Technology
• Department of Justice
• Lieutenant Governor
• Nevada Military Department
• Division of Minerals, Commission on Mineral Resources
• Department of Motor Vehicles
• Nevada National Guard
• Department of Personnel
• Advisory Council for Prosecuting Attorneys
• Public Employees Benefit Program
• Public Employees Retirement System
• Department of Public Safety
• Public Utilities Commission
• Department of Secretary of State
• Department of Taxation
• Commission on Tourism
• Department of Transportation
• Nevada State Treasurer
• Universities and Community Colleges of Nevada
• Nevada Office of Veterans' Services
• Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
• Department of Wildlife [7]

A view of the Nevada State Legislative Building

The Supreme Court of Nevada's courthouse

The skyline of Reno.