Nevada Legislative History

In 1911, Nevada created three important laws: the Civil Practice Act, the Crimes and Punishments Act, and the Criminal Practice Act. Many of the current Nevada laws come from these acts. Before 1965, there were no records of what lawmakers were thinking when they made these laws. To find out more about these 1911 acts, look at old law books from 1912 or check the law library. If a law has a history note like those from 1911, it likely comes from one of these original acts.

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  • Historical References: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.