Guinn can limit length of session

Wednesday, June 13, 2001 | 10:10 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn has the authority to set a time limit on the special session of the Legislature scheduled to convene Thursday for reapportionment and to revote on bills whose legality is in question, the state attorney general's office said Tuesday.

While there is nothing in the Nevada Constitution to give the governor this power, First Assistant Attorney General Tom Patton said Guinn has the "discretionary" authority to limit the duration of the session.

Guinn has talked about setting a 24-hour limit on the session to get its work done. And this opinion gives Guinn the authority to go forward with his plans.

The regular session of the Legislature adjourned at 1 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on June 5. The constitution said it must close shop at midnight Pacific Standard Time 120 days after convening.

With business not completed at midnight, lawmakers said they could continue passing bills until 1 a.m. because that was Pacific Standard Time, which is designated in the constitution.

Patton, in a legal opinion delivered to Guinn, said it would be "prudent" to revote on the bills that were passed between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. to avoid a legal challenge.

The opinion said the governor could restrict the topics to be considered in the session to those specific bills. And the Legislature would be limited to voting them up or down, since they had already been debated and passed in committees.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said the bills would be reprinted and considered by both Houses as a "committee of the whole," meaning all lawmakers will be in on the discussion of this legislation.

The Nevada Constitution says the Legislature must adopt a reapportionment plan at the first regular session after the census figures arrive. The data was submitted to the Legislature in mid-March. But the lawmakers failed to reach agreement.

Patton said lawmakers are still free to pass a reapportionment plan, even though the constitution was not followed. He said, however, that the court could step in at any time.

Lawsuits have been filed in U.S. District Court in Reno and the Nevada Supreme Court asking them to intervene. The federal court suit wants the appointment of a three-judge court to craft a reapportionment plan. The Supreme Court petition says the Legislature should be given until June 30 to draw up maps or the court should enter the picture.

Until 1958 there was a limit of 20 days on special sessions, but that was amended out of the constitution so they could go for an unlimited time.

"There is no controlling case law in Nevada that addresses whether the governor may specify a durational time limit upon a special session," Patton said. But he looked at similar court decisions in Florida and Washington for some precedence.

The opinion said that a Nevada governor has extraordinary, exclusive and discretionary power to convene a special session and to specify the topics. And he has the "discretionary authority to revoke or amend a proclamation convening such a special session," Patton wrote.

Patton also wrote: "Included within such power to revoke would be the authority to specify within the proclamation a specific time period during which the proclamation shall remain in force and effect. Accordingly, it is our opinion that the governor possesses authority to specify a durational time limit for such special session."