Last night in a presentation to Keystone Corporation members and business owners, Washoe County District Attorney (DA) Chris Hicks warned that Nevada is on its way to becoming California. Citing the criminal justice reform bill AB236, signed by Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak and enacted in 2020, Hicks directly tied AB236 to crime data and a significant spike in crime across the second-largest county in Nevada.

AB 236 was designed and passed by the Democratic legislative majority with hopes to reduce the prison population through various changes to the penal code in relation to sentencing, bail, probation, drug offenses and felony categories and convictions.

AB236 increased the threshold for felony theft from $650 to $1200. California’s felony threshold is $950.

The Globe reported on the unfortunate consequences of this substantive change:

Since the Democratic majority, led by Steve Yeager, passed Assembly Bill 236 in 2019, the Silver State has seen a 15 percent increase in property crimes and a staggering 39 percent increase in drug-store thefts on the Las Vegas Strip. At the time, Attorney General Aaron Ford was “intimately involved” and enthusiastically backed the bill that overhauled Nevada’s criminal justice system.

The bill raised the threshold for felony theft from $650 worth of stolen goods to $1,200. A criminal who steals up to $1,200 worth of goods will be charged with misdemeanor larceny instead of a category D felony.

At the time of consideration, Yeager told Nevada Newsmakers, “We have a very low threshold of theft here. It is $600 for a felony. Your average iPhone is going to be $1,200. So if you take an iPhone, you are looking at having a felony.”

“So we looked at adjusting those levels,” he said. “Initially the bill had proposed $2,000 for a felony, which put us in line with most other states. But that was a concern for some of the businesses. So we did what we do in the legislative building. We sat down, we talked about it and we have come to a place where I think everybody can agree is appropriate and that is $1,200 (threshold for felony theft).”

Additionally, AB236 decreased the penalties on drug trafficking and increased the amount of methamphetamine and fentanyl possession. DA Hicks stated that AB236 “rubber-stamped” drug use.

Prior to 2020, a person caught with enough fentanyl to kill thousands of people would be charged with drug trafficking. After AB236 was passed, that same trafficker is now charged with possession and is often released on their own recognizance. If the defendant pleads guilty, AB236 requires that the felon is given mandatory probation for the offense.

Furthermore, significant changes were made to probation violations.

Prior the passage of AB236, habitual criminals usually faced increased sanctions. Hicks noted that prosecutors had discretion to ask for increased sanctions at three felonies, now prosecutors can only request increased sanctions if the repeat offenders has SEVEN felonies. 

To note, Debora Redden, a habitual felon who went viral for leaping over a Las Vegas judge’s bench and attempted to murder her, had multiple violent felonies on his record at the time of the attack, but did not meet the seven-felony threshold.  Hicks warned that Redden was “symbolic” of the dire consequences of AB236 and a “product of the bail reform movement.”

Another concerning reform in AB236 relates to the early release parameters for convicted felons.

If an incarcerated felon is sentenced to a minimum sentence of five years, “good time credits” are applied to the minimum, not maximum, sentence. For example, if a felon is sentenced to 5-10 years, but is awarded credits to their minimum sentence, the felon could be back on the streets in less than a year.

Hicks quipped, “In Nevada, don’t do the crime if you can’t do half the time.” Hicks also noted that the Nevada Supreme Court decision rendered in Valdez-Jiminez V. The Eight Circuit” ushered in sweeping and negative changes in criminal law.

According to the Nevada State Bar Association:

“There is an erosion of criminal consequence in Nevada. What we need back in Nevada is consequences for bad actors,” Hicks stated. “AB236 makes it easy on the criminals and hard on the victims. Behind every crime, is a victim or victims of that crime.” Hicks added. “When you take away consequences, laws become flimsy.”