Existing law permits an offender to earn certain credits to reduce his or her sentence of imprisonment. (NRS 209.433-209.449) Section 1 of this bill allows for an additional credit of 5 days for each month served by an offender who is incarcerated in an institution or facility of the Department of Corrections during a period in which a state of emergency due to a communicable or infectious disease has been declared by the Governor and remains in effect. Section 1 also: (1) limits such credits an offender may earn to not more than 60 days of credit for any state of emergency; (2) requires such credits to apply to eligibility for parole and to be deducted from the minimum term or the minimum aggregate term imposed by the sentence, as applicable, until the offender becomes eligible for parole, unless the offender was sentenced pursuant to a statute which specifies a minimum sentence which must be served before a person becomes eligible for parole; (3) requires such credits to be deducted from the maximum term or maximum aggregate term imposed by the sentence, as applicable; and (4) requires the Director of the Department, not later than 60 days after a state of emergency due to a communicable or infectious disease has been declared by the Governor, to submit a report containing a list of the offenders who have received such credits to the Chief Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court, the State Public Defender, the Attorney General, the Executive Director of the Department of Sentencing Policy and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmittal to the Legislature or, if the Legislature is not in session, to the Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice. Section 2 of this bill makes a conforming change to indicate the appropriate placement of section 1 in the Nevada Revised Statutes. Section 2.5 of this bill: (1) requires the credits authorized by section 1 to be applied retroactively to the sentence of an offender who was incarcerated in an institution or facility of the Department of Corrections during the period in which the emergency described in the Declaration of Emergency for COVID-19 issued on March 12, 2020, was in effect; and (2) specifies that the credits applied retroactively are an act of grace of the State, that no person has a right to parole and that the application of such credits is not intended to create any right or interest in liberty or property or establish a basis for any cause of action against the State or its political subdivisions, agencies, boards, commissions, departments, officers or employees. Section 2.5 also requires the Director of the Department, not later than 60 days after the effective date of this bill, to submit a report containing a list of the offenders who have received credits pursuant to the provisions of this bill for the emergency described in the Declaration of Emergency for COVID-19 issued on March 12, 2020, to the Chief Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court, the State Public Defender, the Attorney General, the Executive Director of the Department of Sentencing Policy and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmittal to the Legislature or, if the Legislature is not in session, to the Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 209.432
Reprint 1: 209.432
Reprint 2: 209.432
Reprint 3: 209.432
As Enrolled: 209.432