Las Vegas Criminal Defense Blog

Earlier this month, the Nye County District Attorney was arrested in Pahrump and booked on over 40 counts of embezzlement. Since he clearly can't prosecute himself, the County Sheriff is researching how to proceed with the case. Back in 2008, this D.A. was also charged with DUI after crashing two cars in a six-hour time period, but he accepted a deal where he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless driving in Nevada, which carries only eight demerit points and not license suspension like DUI does.

As an incentive to drive safely, the Nevada DMV has instituted the Nevada Demerit Point system, which adds demerit points to your license for every traffic violation in Nevada. For example, every ten miles per an hour you exceed the speed limit, one demerit point will be added to your license. And hit & runs mandate six demerit points. If you accumulate twelve or more demerit points within a twelve-month period, your license will be suspended for six months.

The Nevada Demerit Point System does not impose demerit points for most non-moving and parking violations. Any points you accumulate will be automatically deducted one year after they were added. The Nevada Demerit Point system allows you to remove three points by taking a DMV-approved Drivers Safety Course (as long as it's not part of a plea deal with the court).

To read more about the Nye County D.A., click here: http://www.lvrj.com/news/nye-county-case-complicated-93914309.html

Yesterday was the first day of classes for seventy-one schools in the Reno-Sparks-Carson City area, and traffic cops were out in full-force to ensure the 15 mph limit in school zones was being followed. All in all, officers handed out more than a dozen traffic citations in Nevada and made one arrest for DUI.

Sparks Lt. Chad Hawkins summed up yesterday’s efforts: “It went pretty well overall. Some people were caught off-guard. It was a reminder that we’re enforcing school zones.” Sgt. Harry Dixon explained that they handed out several warnings as well as tickets: “We try to issue as many warnings as we can as a reminder. If they’re doing 5 or 6 mph over the limit, we may just stop them and say, ‘Hey, see that flashing yellow light? It’s there for a reason.’”

Traffic citations in Nevada can usually be negotiated down to non-moving violations as long as you pay a fee and maybe complete a traffic safety school program. Ignoring traffic citations may result in a bench warrant for your arrest.