Existing law authorizes a court that imposes a sentence of imprisonment in a county jail or state prison to allow credit for time spent in confinement before conviction to reduce the sentence. (NRS 176.055) In interpreting this provision of existing law, the Nevada Supreme Court has held that residential confinement (also known as “house arrest”) served as a condition of bail does not constitute time spent in confinement for which a court may award credit to reduce a sentence of imprisonment. (State v. Dist. Ct. (Jackson), 121 Nev. 413, 416 (2005)) This bill: (1) requires a court to allow credit for time spent in confinement before conviction to reduce a sentence of imprisonment; (2) authorizes a court to allow credit for time spent in residential confinement, in a person's place of residence under the terms and conditions imposed by the court, before conviction to reduce a sentence of imprisonment; and (3) limits the amount of credit for time spent in residential confinement that a court may allow a defendant who has been found guilty of a misdemeanor to the lesser of 25 percent of the amount of time which the defendant spent in residential confinement before conviction or 60 days.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 176.055
Reprint 1: 176.055