Nevada Capital Punishment Laws

The state of Nevada allows courts to impose the death penalty in first-degree murder cases. To impose capital punishment, the court must find the existence of at least one aggravating circumstance. Also, the court must find that the mitigating circumstances do not outweigh the aggravating factors.

First-degree murder under Nevada law is when someone commits a premeditated and deliberate killing. Also, under Nevada's felony murder rule, someone commits a first-degree murder if they kill someone during the commission of a felony.

For example, suppose someone commits a burglary, which is a felony. If the burglar kills someone during the burglary, the state can charge them with first-degree murder. Similarly, homicides committed during the following crimes could result in first-degree murder charges, among others:

• Arson
• Sexual assault
• Robbery
• Kidnapping
• Child abuse
• Elder abuse

In cases where someone kills another person during the commission of a felony, they could find themselves involved in a death penalty case.

Capital Punishment Statutes in Nevada

The table below provides Nevada's capital punishment laws and other information about the state's use of the death penalty.

Note: State laws are constantly changing. Contact a Nevada attorney or conduct your own legal research to verify the state laws you are researching.

History of Capital Punishment in Nevada

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Nevada invented an "automated firing squad" to execute prisoners in 1913. The firing squad consisted of three rifles attached to a frame that would simultaneously fire. Nevada used the firing squad once in the execution of Andriza Mircovich.

The Death Penalty Information Center also notes that Nevada was the first state to execute prisoners using a gas chamber (also called an "execution chamber"). Between 1924 and 1979, Nevada used the gas chamber to execute 32 men.

Nevada has executed 12 people since 1976. Since 1979, the Nevada Department of Corrections has used lethal injections to execute inmates on death row.

In April 2021, the Nevada Assembly passed a bill that would have abolished the death penalty. But it died on the Senate floor.

In recent years, outgoing Gov. Steve Sisolak requested that the Nevada Parole Board commute all death sentences in the state. Specifically, he wanted it to commute each sentence of death to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. A Nevada judge blocked his request in 2022.

Capital Punishment in Nevada: Death Row

Nevada has two death rows:

• Ely State Prison (men's death row)
• Carson City (women's death row)

Executions take place at Nevada State Prison in Carson City.

The last execution occurred in Nevada on April 26, 2006. The state executed Daryl Mack, convicted of rape and murder in 1988, by lethal injection. Mack was the 12th inmate on Nevada's death row executed since the state's legislature reinstated capital punishment in 1977.

Contact an Attorney

States have differing laws on the death penalty, and they can change over time. Contact a Nevada criminal defense attorney if you need legal help with a death penalty case or another criminal law matter.

You can also visit FindLaw's Death Penalty section for more articles and information on this topic. Also, FindLaw's History of the Death Penalty article covers significant Supreme Court cases involving capital punishment.