SR1 - Adopts the Standing Rules of the Senate for the 83rd Session of the Legislature. (BDR R-977)

- 83rd Session (2025) Senate Resolution No. 1–Senators Cannizzaro and Titus FILE NUMBER.......... SENATE RESOLUTION—Adopting the Standing Rules of the Senate for the 83rd Session of the Legislature. RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, That the Senate Standing Rules are hereby adopted for the 83rd Session of the Legislature as follows: I. OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES DUTIES OF OFFICERS Rule No. 1. President. The President shall take the chair and call the Senate to order precisely at the hour appointed for meeting, and if a quorum is present shall cause the Journal of the preceding day to be read. The President shall preserve order and decorum, and in case of any disturbance or disorderly conduct within the Senate Chamber, shall order the Sergeant at Arms to suppress it, and may order the arrest of any person creating any disturbance within the Senate Chamber. The President may speak to points of order in preference to members, rising from the President’s seat for that purpose, and shall decide questions of order without debate, subject to an appeal to the Senate by two members, on which appeal no member may speak more than once without leave of the Senate. The President shall sign all acts, addresses and joint resolutions, and all writs, warrants and subpoenas issued by order of the Senate; all of which must be attested by the Secretary. The President has general direction of the Senate Chamber. Rule No. 2. President pro Tempore and Other Presiding Officers. 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2: (a) The President pro Tempore has all the power and shall discharge all the duties of the President during his or her absence or inability to discharge the duties of his or her office. (b) If the President is unwilling to discharge the duties of his or her office, the Senate may, by majority vote of the Senate, call upon the President pro Tempore to serve as the President. Upon such call, the President pro Tempore has all the power and shall discharge all the duties of the President during his or her unwillingness to discharge the duties of his or her office. – 2 – - 83rd Session (2025) (c) In the absence or inability of the President pro Tempore to discharge the duties of the President’s office, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections shall serve as the presiding officer. In the absence or inability of the Chair, the Vice Chair of the Standing Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections shall serve as the presiding officer. In the absence or inability of the Vice Chair of the Standing Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections, the Senate shall, regardless of whether a quorum is present, elect one of its members to serve as the presiding officer by a majority vote of the members present. A member who is serving as the presiding officer has all the power and shall discharge all the duties of the President until the absence or inability which resulted in the member serving as the presiding officer has ended. 2. When the President pro Tempore or another member is serving as the presiding officer, the President pro Tempore or other member may vote on any question for which he or she is otherwise qualified to vote as a member. If the Senate is equally divided on the question, the President pro Tempore or other member may not give an additional deciding vote or casting vote pursuant to Senate Standing Rule No. 31 or Section 17 of Article 5 of the Nevada Constitution. Rule No. 3. Secretary. 1. The Secretary of the Senate is elected by the Senate, and shall: (a) Recruit, interview, select, train and supervise all staff employed to assist with the work of the Senate. (b) See that these employees perform their respective duties. (c) Administer the daily business of the Senate, including the provision of staff to its committees. (d) Adopt such administrative policies as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the business of the Senate. (e) Unless otherwise ordered by the Senate, transmit at the end of each working day those bills and resolutions upon which the next action is to be taken by the Assembly. 2. The Secretary is responsible to the Majority Leader. 3. The President and the Secretary are authorized to make any necessary corrections and additions to the final Journal, Daily History and committee minutes of the Senate. 4. In the absence of the Secretary and subject to the discretion of the Majority Leader, the Assistant Secretary shall attest all writs, warrants and subpoenas issued by order of the – 3 – - 83rd Session (2025) Senate and certify as to the passage of bills and resolutions; and in the absence of both officers, the Majority Leader shall designate a signatory. 5. The Secretary shall have custody of all bills, resolutions, petitions, papers and other documents, including, without limitation, matters referred to the committees of the Senate. 6. When preparing publications, signage, nameplates or other materials which are presented to the public and contain the name of a Senator, the Secretary shall ensure that such materials do not contain a professional designation as part of the name of a Senator, including, without limitation, pre-nominal or post- nominal initials. Rule No. 4. Sergeant at Arms. The Sergeant at Arms shall: 1. Attend the Senate during its sittings, and execute its commands and all process issued by its authority. 2. Keep the secrets of the Senate. 3. Superintend the upkeep of the Senate’s Chamber, private lounge and meeting rooms for committees. Rule No. 5. Deputy Sergeant at Arms and Assistant Sergeants at Arms. The Deputy Sergeant at Arms and Assistant Sergeants at Arms shall serve as doorkeepers and shall preserve order in the Senate Chamber and shall assist the Sergeant at Arms. The Deputy Sergeant at Arms and Assistant Sergeants at Arms shall keep the secrets of the Senate. In the event that the Sergeant at Arms is incapacitated or absent for any reason, the Deputy Sergeant at Arms shall serve as the Sergeant at Arms until the incapacity or absence has ended. Rule No. 6. Continuation of Leadership and Standing Rules of the Senate During the Interim Between Regular Sessions. 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 2, 3 and 4, the tenure of the President pro Tempore, Majority Leader and Minority Leader extends during the interim between regular sessions of the Legislature. 2. The President pro Tempore, Majority Leader and Minority Leader for the next succeeding regular session shall perform any duty that is required of that officer by the Standing Rules of the Senate and the Nevada Revised Statutes in the period between – 4 – - 83rd Session (2025) the time of their designation after the general election and the organization of the next succeeding regular session. 3. The Majority Leader and Minority Leader for the next succeeding regular session shall appoint the regular and alternate members to the Committee on Ethics as set forth in Senate Standing Rule No. 23. 4. The Majority Leader shall: (a) Determine the start time of the Senate’s organizational session. (b) Refer prefiled bills and resolutions to committee, subject to ratification by a majority vote of the members of the Senate once the Senate is organized and ready for business. (c) Appoint committees during the interim between regular sessions of the Legislature for any proper purpose, including, without limitation, taking testimony, compelling the attendance of witnesses, punishing persons or entities for contempt and reporting findings to the next session of the Legislature. 5. The Standing Rules of the Senate set forth herein shall remain in full force and effect throughout the interim between regular sessions of the Legislature and until new Standing Rules of the Senate are adopted as part of the organization of a newly constituted Senate at the commencement of a session, unless a conflict exists with a rule adopted by the Senate for a special session occurring between regular sessions. The next rule is 10. II. SESSIONS AND MEETINGS Rule No. 10. Time of Meeting. 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, the President shall call the Senate to order each day of sitting at 11:00 o’clock a.m., unless the Senate has adjourned to some other hour. 2. In the event an emergency occurs during a regular or special session of the Legislature which requires a meeting of the Senate, the Majority Leader shall call the members back to order before the hour to which the Senate has adjourned. Rule No. 11. Call of Senate—Moved by Three Members. A Call of the Senate may be moved by three Senators, and if carried by a majority of all present, the Secretary shall call the roll and note the absentees, after which the names of the absentees shall again be called over. The doors shall then be closed and the – 5 – - 83rd Session (2025) Sergeant at Arms directed to take into custody all who may be absent without leave, and all Senators so taken into custody shall be presented at the bar of the Senate for such action as to the Senate may seem proper. Rule No. 12. Absence—Leave Required. No Senator shall absent himself or herself from the service of the Senate without leave, except in case of accident or sickness, and if any Senator or officer shall so absent himself or herself, the per diem of the Senator shall not be allowed to him or her. Rule No. 13. Open Meetings. 1. Except as provided in the Constitution of the State of Nevada and in subsection 2, all meetings of the Senate and its committees must be open to the public. 2. A Senate committee meeting may be closed to consider the character, alleged misconduct, professional competence, or physical or mental health of a person. Rule No. 14. Convening of Senate between Legislative Sessions. 1. The Senate may be convened at any time between sessions of the Legislature upon a petition signed by a majority of the members elected to the Senate to consider and take action on any matter that is solely and exclusively within the constitutional or inherent powers of the Senate, including, without limitation, any matter that may be considered and acted on by the Senate pursuant to its plenary and exclusive constitutional powers under Article 4, Section 6 of the Nevada Constitution or pursuant to its inherent powers of institutional self-protection and self- preservation to govern, control and regulate its membership and its internal organization, affairs and management. 2. A petition convening the Senate pursuant to this Rule must specify the matter that will be considered or acted on by the Senate, indicate a date for the Senate to convene and be transmitted to the Secretary of the Senate. Upon receipt of one or more substantially similar petitions signed, in the aggregate, by a majority of the members elected to the Senate, the Secretary shall notify all members of the Senate that the Senate will be convened pursuant to this Rule and the date on which the Senate will be convened. 3. The Senate hereby finds and declares that: – 6 – - 83rd Session (2025) (a) The Nevada Constitution invests each House of the Legislature with certain plenary and exclusive constitutional powers which may be exercised only by that House and which cannot be usurped, infringed or impaired by the other House or by any other branch of Nevada’s State Government. (Heller v. Legislature, 120 Nev. 456 (2004); Commission on Ethics v. Hardy, 125 Nev. 285 (2009); Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure §§ 2-3 & 560-564 (2010) (Mason’s Manual)) (b) Article 4, Section 6 of the Nevada Constitution invests each House with plenary and exclusive constitutional powers to govern, control and regulate its membership and its internal organization, affairs and management, expressly providing that: “Each House shall judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of its own members, choose its own officers (except the President of the Senate), determine the rules of its proceedings and may punish its members for disorderly conduct, and with the concurrence of two thirds of all the members elected, expel a member.” (c) In addition to its plenary and exclusive constitutional powers, each House possesses certain inherent powers of institutional self-protection and self-preservation to govern, control and regulate its membership and its internal organization, affairs and management. (In re Chapman, 166 U.S. 661, 668 (1897); Mason’s Manual § 2; Luther S. Cushing, Elements of the Law & Practice of Legislative Assemblies § 533 (1856) (Cushing’s Legislative Assemblies)) (d) The inherent powers of each House are considered “so essential to the authority of a legislative assembly, that it cannot well exist without them; and they are consequently entitled to be regarded as belonging to every such assembly as a necessary incident.” (Cushing’s Legislative Assemblies § 533) (e) The inherent powers of each House authorize it to take all necessary and proper institutional actions that are “recognized by the common parliamentary law.” (Cushing’s Legislative Assemblies § 684) (f) Thus, it is well established that each House is “vested with all the powers and privileges which are necessary and incidental to a free and unobstructed exercise of its appropriate functions. These powers and privileges are derived not from the Constitution; on the contrary, they arise from the very creation of a legislative body, and are founded upon the principle of self-preservation.” (Ex parte McCarthy, 29 Cal. 395, 403 (1866)) – 7 – - 83rd Session (2025) The next rule is 20. III. DECORUM AND DEBATE Rule No. 20. Points of Order. 1. If any Senator, in speaking or otherwise, transgresses the rules of the Senate, the President shall, or any Senator may, call him or her to order. If a Senator is so called to order, he or she shall not proceed without leave of the Senate. If such leave is granted, it must be upon the motion, “That he or she be allowed to proceed in order,” and the Senator shall confine himself or herself to the proposal under consideration and avoid personality. 2. Every ruling on points of order made by the President is subject to appeal, and a discussion of a question of order may be allowed only upon the appeal of two Senators. In all cases of appeal, the question must be, “Shall the ruling of the Chair stand as the judgment of the Senate?” Rule No. 21. Breaches of Decorum. 1. In cases of breaches of decorum or propriety, any Senator, officer or other person is liable to such censure or p [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]