Defense lawyers think a new plea bargaining policy is overwhelming the court system and disincentivizing plea deals. The county's top prosecutor says the rise is in part due to the pandemic.

Under SB35, low-level trafficking of 28 to 42 grams of fentanyl will now be a category B felony, punishable by one to 10 years imprisonment, and high-level trafficking of 42 to 100 grams will be punishable by two to 15 years imprisonment.

Yeager’s path to serving in the top leadership role hinged on a series of leaps from leaving his childhood state of Michigan to a career change from a private law firm in Arizona to the public defender’s office in Clark County.

“You should make any effort to take appropriate channels to get that handled within an hour because a person in that [dungeon] — it’s irreparable damage," said activist Jagada Chambers.

Across the state, there have long been issues with the legal defense provided to indigent defendants — people with low incomes who are unable to obtain qualified, competent legal counsel on their own without substantial hardship. The state has been sued in the past over its sparse public defender system in its rural counties and has dealt with disparities in indigent defense from county to county.

Lawmakers this session are seeking to further separate the juvenile justice system from the adult criminal justice system at nearly every level, with legislation aimed at reducing referrals into the system, promoting rehabilitation programs and housing young offenders separately.

In this edition: Adding additional checks before an HOA can foreclose on a home, expanding jury discrimination rules, and tax credits for charter school facilities and construction. Plus, another Carson City Restaurant Spotlight.

While Nevada is one of just 13 states to categorize a traffic ticket as a criminal issue, efforts to downgrade it have failed in sessions dating back to at least 2013 and in spite of an interim study on the topic.

Per the bill (and an amendment making minor changes presented Wednesday by Jauregui), the legislation would explicitly authorize a “covered premise” to prohibit most individuals from possessing a firearm on its property without the written consent of the owner. A covered premise means any private business where a large number of people gather — including casinos, churches, shopping malls, stadiums, movie theaters or golf courses.

That’s why lawmakers in the Assembly Judiciary Committee spent several hours Wednesday hearing AB42, a measure sponsored by the City of Henderson and intended to implement the court’s 2019 decision by creating a framework for the novel phenomenon of holding jury trials in municipal court.

In this edition: A bill on “Stablecoin” that is totally not related to Innovation Zones, increasing utility regulator fines, changes to wrongful conviction compensation and heartburn on abolishing education-focused commissions, including one created by beloved former Assemblyman Tyron Thompson.

But on Saturday, Piro found himself in the same place as many of his indigent clients — hands behind his back and facing down a court date. Piro is charged with “pedestrian intentionally in a roadway” stemming from an arrest that happened at a Saturday protest in Las Vegas while he was wearing a red shirt emblazoned with the words “legal observer.”

Instead, what may be the last potentially major changes to the state’s bail system are alive in the form of Democratic Assemblywoman Dina Neal’s AB125, which was passed out of the Assembly on a party-line vote Friday, but it likely faces an uncertain path as law enforcement and district attorneys question the implementation and effectiveness of the bill.