Nevada

A bill at the Legislature would make it possible for some of the tens of thousands of disenfranchised Nevada residents to make it back into the voting booth. Assembly Bill 181 would generally restore the right to vote and serve on a civil court jury to people convicted of nonviolent felonies. The proposed law applies to those who are released from prison as well as those discharged from probation or parole. Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that his bill is intended to use taxpayer dollars effectively while encouraging offenders to reintegrate into society.

A national push toward criminal justice reform has made its way to Nevada, where lawmakers are eyeing changes including the right to vote for felons. Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, is sponsoring the disenfranchisement bill and says the state is certainly new to criminal justice reform. “We have discussed it over the years, but I think this is the first time that in a bipartisan way folks are recognizing that we could actually save taxpayer dollars and protect the public better by being more responsible with how we use our money in the criminal justice system,” Frierson said.

A Democrat-backed bill that would have restored voter rights to some ex-felons was scaled back Wednesday to a measure changing eligibility requirements for criminal record-sealing, but sponsors say that doesn’t mean the controversial effort to restore voting rights for former prisoners is dead. In an unusual procedural move, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford’s bill SB125 — which had passed the Assembly Corrections, Parole and Probation Committee on May 9 — was sent back to the same committee Wednesday and the old vote was revoked. The scaled-back version of the bill was brought up for a new vote, and passed with one Republican, Assemblyman Ira Hansen, opposed.

A bill that seeks to restore voting rights for certain felons is drawing diverse support from groups including the Washoe County Public Defender’s Office. Sen. Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas, presented the bill Thursday in the Assembly Corrections, Parole, and Probation Committee. He said data from 2010, the most recent available, shows that about 4 percent of Nevada’s voting-age population is ineligible to do so.