Nevada Primary Sources

The Law Library has old collections of Nevada's laws, including books like the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) and older laws from before Nevada was a state. Statutory codes are like big books that organize laws by topic. Session laws show what new laws were passed during specific meetings of lawmakers. These session laws are useful for finding laws that are new or not yet in the NRS. The library also has old documents which help explain the history of Nevada’s laws.

The Law Library has a physical archive of the following superseded materials:

• Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS)
• Statutes of Nevada
• Pre-NRS Statutory compilations going back to pre-statehood
• Information that is traditionally published as part of the NRS - including the rules of civil and appellate procedure, local rules, ADKTs, and Supreme Court rules, etc.

Legislative Terminology: 

Statutory code: 

A collection of statutes of a general, public, and permanent nature that are organized by subject. Newly enacted or amended laws are incorporated into the code so that all laws on the same subject may be easily found. Nevada's statutory code is the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS).

Session laws: 

A collection of laws enacted and resolutions passed during a legislative session. They are evidence of a legislature's activity and are organized by time period instead of by subject. Nevada's session laws are the Statutes of Nevada. 

• Session laws are invaluable when researching:
  • Laws or resolutions that will never be incorporated into a code (because they are not of a general, public, or permanent nature);
  • Laws that are so "new" that they have not yet been incorporated into the code; OR
  • Legislation that is so voluminous OR addresses multiple topics that will ultimately be placed (i.e., codified) in many different subjects in the code; having the law available to read in one place is more convenient.

The Legislative Counsel Bureau's Research Library has created a collection of historical documents relating to Nevada statutory law. These include the admission acts; a handwritten version of the original 1864 state constitution; and documents relating to the development of the current Nevada Revised Statutes.

Where to Find It

The Nevada Constitution is included in both the official Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) and the unofficial versions published by Thomson Reuters (West) and Michie's (Lexis). Each version of the Constitution is annotated with references to judicial opinions that interpret its provisions.

A handwritten copy of the Nevada Constitution is also available.

Historical Resources

The Legislative Counsel Bureau's Research Library provides a collection of historical documents related to the Nevada Constitution, including:

• A typewritten and handwritten copy of the original Nevada Constitution.
• A current version of the Constitution.
• The Official Report of the Debates and Proceedings in the Constitutional Convention of the State of Nevada, assembled in Carson City on July 4, 1864.

Commentary on the Nevada Constitution

While this guide emphasizes Nevada primary sources, there are several books on the Nevada Constitution that may be helpful for constitutional research.

The flow chart below illustrates the publication process for laws enacted by the Nevada Legislature.

Slip Law:

• Issued as soon as the law is enacted by the legislature. The term "slip law" originates from the time when individual laws were printed as sheets of paper or small booklets shortly after their passage into law.
• Slip Laws are available online at the Legislature's website.

Statutes of Nevada:

• Published at the end of the legislative session (which generally occurs every two years). 
• Includes all laws enacted and resolutions passed in the order in which they occurred. 
• The Statutes of Nevada are available online for free in text format from the Legislature's website.

Nevada Revised Statutes:

• A collection of all laws that are of a general, public, and permanent nature, organized by subject.
• The Legislative Counsel Bureau (LCB) publishes the official print version of the NRS every two years. Unofficial print versions are published by Thomson Reuters (West) and Michie's (Lexis).
• The NRS is also freely available online from the Legislature's website.

Current Statutory Code

The current statutory code is the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS).

The NRS was first published in 1957 and is republished every two years to align with the Nevada Legislature's biennial meeting schedule. The Legislature meets in odd-numbered years with the occasional special session(s) occurring in the even-numbered years. When special legislative sessions occur in even-numbered years, update pages are provided to replace affected pages.

The official NRS is published by the Legislative Counsel Bureau in loose-leaf binders and is annotated. 

• Annotated means that, in addition to the current text of the statute, the editors of the code also include brief descriptions and citations to judicial opinions that have interpreted a statute. Annotations can also include references to Attorney General Opinions as well as secondary sources

Where to find the Nevada Revised Statutes:

Nevada's session laws are the Statutes of Nevada. Session laws contain all of the laws passed by a legislature in one legislative session. They are organized chronologically in the order in which each law was passed (but not necessarily by the date each law will become effective). Not every law that is published in the session laws will also be published in the Nevada Revised Statutes.

Where to find the Statutes of Nevada: 

The pre-NRS statutory compilations are:

• Bonnefield and Healy, The Compiled Laws of the State of Nevada (1873)
• Baily and Hammond, The General Statutes of the State of Nevada (1885)
• Cutting, Compiled Laws of Nevada (1900)
• Revised Laws of Nevada (1912 & 1919)
• Nevada Compiled Laws (1929, 1931-1941 Supplement, and 1943-1949 Supplement)

The prior statutory compilations are available in print at the NSCLL as well as in PDF format through HeinOnline (accessible only in the Law Library). 

Understanding how to use these history notes is vital in learning the origin of Nevada’s statutes. A statute from 2019 could have been enacted as early as Nevada statehood in the 1860s, or from another state. These historical statutory codes help lead you there.

A CAUTIONARY NOTE ABOUT WESTLAW: Westlaw is inconsistent with citations to pre-NRS statutory codes. As such, it is advisable to do historical statutory research using the NRS as provided by the LCB.

In 1911, three major acts were enacted that form the foundation for many of Nevada's civil and criminal laws:

1. Civil Practice Act of 1911 (CPA)
2. Crimes and Punishments Act of 1911 (C&P)
3. Criminal Practice Act of 1911 (Cr. Prac.)

Many provisions in the current Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) trace their origins to one of these acts.

Legislative History of the 1911 Acts

• Legislative Intent:
  Unfortunately, committee minutes documenting legislative intent were not kept until 1965.
• Tracking Legislative Progress:
  To understand how these acts progressed through the legislative process, refer to the Assembly and Senate Journals for a chronological description of events.

Identifying the 1911 Acts in Statutory History Notes

If a statute originates from one of these acts, the statutory history note will indicate it. Here are examples:

• Civil Practice Act (CPA) Example - NRS 11.190
  •   [1911 CPA § 25; A 1951, 247] — (NRS A 1965, 948, 1415; 1967, 113; 1981, 1023, 1885; 1983, 612; 1985, 698; 1987, 14, 1346; 1991, 117; 1993, 454, 2628; 1997, 1591; 1999, 1238; 2005, 1424; 2007, 742, 2472, 2848; 2011, 1745; 2013, 1027; 2015, 2576; 2017, 4354)
• Crimes & Punishments Act (C&P)  Example - NRS 194.010
  •  [1911 C&P § 3; RL § 6268; NCL § 9952] — (NRS A 1979, 145; 1981, 1660; 1995, 2467; 2001 Special Session, 136; 2003, 1480; 2015, 787)
• Criminal Practice Act (Cr. Prac.) Example - NRS 171.080
  • [1911 Cr. Prac. § 71; RL § 6921; NCL § 10719] — (NRS A 2003, 2952; 2019, 464)

**The 1911 Acts and the Revised Laws of Nevada (1912)

• The Statutes of Nevada (1911) do not include the text of these acts.

• The enrolled versions were published in the two volumes of the Revised Laws of Nevada (1912).

  • Historical References:
    • Annotations in the Revised Laws sometimes identify the jurisdiction from which the Nevada statute originated.

Comparative Tables