Existing law sets forth the annual compensation to be paid to county commissioners and certain elected county officers, including district attorneys, sheriffs, county clerks, county assessors, county recorders, county treasurers and public administrators. (NRS 245.043) Section 1 of this bill sets the base amount of compensation of elected county officers for: (1) Fiscal Year 2025-2026 as an amount based on a certain calculation using the base salary that was in effect for Fiscal Year 2018-2019 or 3 percent higher than the highest salary of an employee under the supervision of the elected officer that was in effect on January 1, 2025, whichever is higher; and (2) each fiscal year thereafter as the base salary in effect for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 with certain adjustments or 3 percent higher than the highest salary of an employee under the supervision of the elected officer that has been approved by the board of county commissioners, whichever is higher. Section 1 also authorizes a board of county commissioners to provide, on an annual basis or as the board of county commissioners deems appropriate, a 2 percent cost-of-living increase to the base salary of each elected county officer. Existing law further authorizes the board of county commissioners to determine not to pay the increased salary for all elected county officers if the financial resources of the county are not available to pay the increased salaries in that fiscal year. (NRS 245.043) If the board of county commissioners determines not to pay the increased salary for all elected county officers, including county commissioners, section 1 requires that any reduction in salary be applied to all elected county officers using a calculation that is equally proportional for each elected county officer or using the same reduction calculation applied to any other employee or group of employees of the county, whichever is lower. Section 1 further: (1) establishes the amount of the annual salaries for county commissioners for Fiscal Year 2025-2026; and (2) provides that for the 5 fiscal years following Fiscal Year 2025-2026, each county commissioner is entitled to an increase in the amount of his or her annual salary of 3 percent per fiscal year. Existing law prohibits, with certain exceptions, district attorneys in every county except a county in classification 6 of the table of annual salaries (currently Esmeralda County) from engaging in the private practice of law. (NRS 245.0435, 252.060) Section 1 eliminates the table and related classifications and sections 2 and 4 of this bill replace references to the classifications to apply the exception to a county whose population is less than 3,000 (currently Esmeralda and Eureka Counties). Sections 3 and 5-10 of this bill make conforming changes to account for the change in how compensation for elected county officers is determined in section 1. Section 11 of this bill authorizes the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Government Affairs to review certain issues during the 2025-2026 interim concerning county commissions.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 245.043, 245.0435, 245.044, 252.060
Reprint 1: 245.043, 245.0435, 245.044, 252.060
As Enrolled: 245.043, 245.0435, 245.044, 252.060