Douglas County Sheriff Dan Coverley Supports Governor Lombardo’s Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act
MINDEN, Nev. (Nov. 13, 2025) – Douglas County Sheriff Dan Coverley announces his support of Governor Joe Lombardo’s Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act (SB 457), which will be considered during the upcoming special legislative session starting today.
“This legislation, if passed, will make Nevada safer. I’m in full support of the enhanced penalties for possession of child pornography and the increased penalties for DUIs that result in death,” said Sheriff Coverley. “The bill strengthens our laws to better protect children, victims of domestic violence, and our communities. SB 457 provides the tools to hold offenders accountable and puts safety as a priority for every Nevadan.”
Sheriff Coverley noted that SB 457 also includes critical updates to stalking and cyberstalking statutes, stronger protections for victims of domestic violence, improved enforcement of firearm surrender requirements, and measures that reinforce safety in schools and high-traffic tourism areas.
“Public safety is our highest priority. I appreciate Governor Lombardo’s leadership in bringing forward legislation that supports law enforcement, prioritizes victims, and enhances accountability for those who repeatedly endanger others,” Coverley added.
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SB 457: The Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act
Strengthen Stalking and Cyberstalking Laws: Under the current definition of stalking, the State must show pattern of conduct which consists of two or more acts over a period of time demonstrating a continuity of purpose directed at a specific person. While household members and spouses are recognized secondary targets, the victim’s new boyfriend or girlfriend is not included unless they cohabitate with the victim. The Act adds people with whom the victim has or has had a dating relationship, but with whom the victim does not cohabitate, to the stalking statute. It also strengthens and clarifies Nevada’s laws pertaining to stalking using social media or other electronic means.
Protect Victims of Domestic Violence: Current NRS 33.018 provides a list of felonies that constitute domestic violence when they are committed in the context of a domestic relationship. Domestic abusers use power, coercion and violence to control their victims. The cycle of domestic violence often involves a variety of different crimes. The Act amends the list of felonies that may constitute domestic violence to kidnapping and attempt offenses to the list of included felonies that can constitute domestic violence.
Ensure Firearm Surrender Compliance: When a defendant is convicted of domestic violence, subject to an extended protection order, or on pretrial release, judges may order them to surrender or transfer their firearms on a temporary or permanent basis. The Act requires prompt follow-up hearings to ensure these orders are actually followed.
Punish Possession of Child Pornography: Under our current statutory construction, Nevada law only allows one count to be charged for a single possession of countless images, even if the defendant has numerous depictions of children being sexually abused. The bill provides that each child depicted in an image, photo, or film supports a separate felony count for prosecution purposes.
No Automatic Sealing for Crimes Against Children and the Elderly: Currently, offenders who commit felony offenses against children or the elderly are eligible for auto-sealing of their criminal records. The Act eliminates these automatic sealing provisions to help ensure employers know of their history before these offenders are permitted to work with the same vulnerable populations.
No Exoneration of Bail Until Restitution Paid: The Act updates our statutes to be consistent with this victim’s constitutional rights under Marsy’s Law, requiring that any money collected from the defendant be first used to satisfy restitution, before it can be applied to court fines and fees.
Safer Schools: Children, teachers, and school employees, and students deserve a safe learning environment. In 2023, there were 6,800 violent incidents in Clark County Schools within a 7-month period. That same year, there were 7,400 violent incidents reported in Washoe County schools.
The Act helps ensure that this unacceptable violence is adequately addressed by providing that when a student assaults or batters a school employee, juvenile courts must ensure that the student is evaluated before they can return to the community.
Increase Penalties for DUIs Causing Death: The Act increases the penalty range for a DUI Causing Death 2-25 years if the offender prior DUIs. For those with a prior DUI offense, it increases the penalty range to 5-25 years.
Tourism Safety & Resort Corridor Court: The tourism safety provisions in the bill do a number of things to ensure the safety of visitors and workers in Nevada’s largest tourist corridors and areas of high visitor traffic to reinforce the safety of those visitors and workers by reducing the level of criminal activity by repeat offenders in those areas. The bill requires Clark County (counties with populations of 700,000 or more) to designate a geographical corridor or corridors, which do not have to be contiguous and must be posted on the county’s website, where there is a heightened risk to public safety and the state’s economic stability due to a high concentration of tourists and employees in the areas. Within the corridor(s), the commission of a crime will result in increased penalties for violators including, but not limited, to express authority for punishment in the form of prohibition of repeat offenders from entering the corridor(s) and increased penalties for crimes against Hospitality Employees similar to how state law treats teachers, police officers, transit workers, and utility workers. Importantly, the bill requires the justice courts with jurisdiction over those corridor(s) to submit various data to the Legislature annually and to the county commission monthly regarding the crimes committed within the corridor(s) and the efficacy of crime prevention.