Friday, June 27, 2003 | 9:12 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Key sections of more than 200 new laws passed by the 2003 Nevada Legislature take effect July 1 -- laws dealing with terrorists, kidnappers, malpractice insurance rates, the state budget, ex-felons' voting rights and dozens of other issues.
The new laws are among more than 1,000 measures approved by lawmakers before they adjourned their regular legislative session June 2. Some other bills took effect immediately after they were approved, others will go into law at the start of the federal fiscal year in October, and still others will take effect Jan. 1, 2004.
The new anti-terrorism laws include AB250, which classifies killings by terrorists as first-degree murder punishable by the death penalty and allows for prosecution no matter how many years it takes to catch a suspected terrorist.
The law specifically states an intent to protect constitutional free speech rights and notes that civil disobedience is not terrorism. It also requires Nevada's resort hotels to develop and file emergency response plans with local police and firefighters.
Also going into law are various sections of the two major bills dealing with Nevada's record $5 billion, two-year state budget. SB504 is the budget authorization bill, and AB553 is a companion measure containing specific state general fund appropriations.
Other new laws include one that revamps Nevada's medical regulations to help avoid doctor shortages and malpractice insurance premium spikes, and better track malpractice cases.
Parts of SB250 also apply to all statewide professional or occupational regulators, monitoring jobs including engineers, architects and accountants.
The new law ensures that all complaints filed with boards are public, as are all disciplinary actions. Doctors must disclose any past malpractice claims when they apply for a Nevada license, and regulators also must investigate any settlement or judgment of malpractice and release a public report.
Also taking effect July 1 is AB322, which creates a statewide "Amber Alert" child abduction notification system. Radio and TV alerts will quickly notify the public about child abductions and include pertinent information, such as vehicle descriptions, to help locate the abductors.
Nevada plans to use programmable freeway signs to publicize information about child abduction cases -- and the information might be splashed across casino marquees or on electric signs hung from helicopters.
AB55 automatically restores voting rights of ex-felons who have completed their sentences for first-offense, nonviolent crimes. The law prevents ex-felons from seeking public office for four years. They could immediately serve as jurors in civil disputes, but they couldn't be jurors in criminal cases for six years.
Repeat offenders and anyone convicted of sex offenses, murder or other violent crimes must ask the courts to restore their rights.
Also taking effect is part of SB336, creating a new southern Nevada water district in rural Lincoln County. The law won approval despite concerns that it could benefit Vidler Water Co., a subsidiary of a La Jolla, Calif., company that's amassing control over land and water in Nevada.
The new Lincoln County water district could partner with private companies, though the bill's advocates said that under public scrutiny the rural county is unlikely to sell water for profit.
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