‘Unique challenges’: How a new Nevada traffic law led to court gridlock

A state law that was supposed to reform the way Nevada courts handled traffic violations has produced case backlogs and potentially higher insurance costs for drivers, but officials say they are trying to address the problem.

The intent of the law that was passed in 2021 and took effect Jan. 1 was to decriminalize most traffic violations — aside from misdemeanors such as DUI and reckless driving — and turn charges into “civil infractions” punishable by fines, thereby keeping people out of jail.

That means traffic citations in Nevada are now essentially civil cases, carrying a maximum fine of $500 and are decided in justice and municipal courts.

A key provision is that people issued citations must respond to the court within 90 days if they agree to pay the fine and not contest it, or to request a hearing.

Problem is, the law has caused a logjam of pending traffic citations in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Jessica Gurley, administrator and deputy clerk for the Justice Court, said in an email that the law has “presented unique challenges to both the court systems and law enforcement agencies throughout the state in regards to traffic matters. It created an entirely new way of handling over 400 violation types, requiring the Las Vegas Justice Court to entirely rewrite how it handled traffic citations.”

Gurley said court administrators have come up with a potential solution: giving people more time to respond by granting them 90 days from when the citation is entered into the system, or 90 days from the date the citation was issued, whichever is later.

State Sen. Rochelle Nguyen, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored Assembly Bill 116 as an assemblywoman in 2021, stated in an email that she had “been made aware of some of the issues about the implementation of AB116 … including the 90 day problem with the courts” and planned to address traffic offenses in the current legislative session with a new Senate bill “that would directly address this problem.”

That bill was heard by the state Senate Judiciary Committee in late February, according to state legislative records.

On Wednesday, Nguyen proposed 12 amendments to the legislation that she suggested would help address the backlog.

But in the meantime, defense attorneys said their clients are having difficulties meeting 90-day payment requirements.

Joseph Maridon, whose Maridon Law Firm offers defense services for traffic violations and misdemeanors, said the court sends notices after 60 days, and his clients have had only 30 days to respond.

Since it’s April, “they’re just now filing those cases, despite what the statute says, despite what the law is,” Maridon said.

John Courtney of the Las Vegas-based LBC Law Group, said that rather than establishing guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, traffic cases are now decided by a preponderance of evidence, the benchmark in civil cases.

“It’s a lot easier for the state to prevail,” Courtney said. “If you want to contest your ticket, it becomes more difficult to have your day in court.”

The new law voided bench warrants issued before 2023 and expunged traffic citations and fines from the criminal histories of state residents.

Courtney said that Justice Court has unprocessed traffic cases going back to late 2022 and some people have undeserved points on their driving records, which can raise their insurance rates and hurt employment options.

While one of the goals of the law was to cut back the number of people sent to jail for unpaid traffic tickets, even under the new law, jail time for contempt of court is possible for those who don’t settle the civil penalties they owe, Maridon said.

“This whole thing about keeping people out of jail, that’s great,” he said. “We don’t want people to get arrested on warrants all the time, but at the end of the day, everybody can still be thrown in jail if they don’t pay their fines.”

Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow him @JeffBurbank2 on Twitter.