Opinion ID: 2354436
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: NRS 706.473 applied to Washoe County

Text: In Encoe's complaint, he alleges that the underlying traffic incident occurred on June 14, 2007, in Reno, Nevada. Reno is located in Washoe County. At that time, NRS 706.473(1) provided, in relevant part, that [i]n a county whose population is less than 400,000, a person who holds a certificate of public convenience and necessity which was issued for the operation of a taxicab business may, upon approval from the [Nevada Transportation] Authority, lease a taxicab to an independent contractor who does not hold a certificate of public convenience and necessity. To support his contention that Washoe County's population exceeded 400,000 at the time of the incident, Encoe relies on certified statewide population statistics provided by the Nevada State Demographer. These population tables indicate that Washoe County's population on July 1, 2006, was 409,085, and that it had grown to 418,061 by July 1, 2007. Encoe's reliance on the data provided by the Nevada State Demographer to support his contention that NRS 706.473 does not apply is misplaced, however, because it ignores NRS 0.050, which provides, in relevant part, that unless otherwise expressly provided in a particular statute or required by the context, population means the number of people in a specified area as determined by the last preceding national decennial census conducted by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce pursuant to Section 2 of Article I of the Constitution of the United States and reported by the Secretary of Commerce to the Governor pursuant to 13 U.S.C. § 141(c). Because NRS 706.473 does not expressly provide that a different population figure, other than the last preceding national decennial census, should be used when determining the statute's application and nothing in the statute's context requires a different definition of the term population, pursuant to NRS 0.050, the population figure provided in the last preceding national decennial census is used to determine whether NRS 706.473 applies to this dispute. See J.E. Dunn Nw. v. Corus Constr. Venture, 127 Nev. ___, ___, 249 P.3d 501, 505 (2011) (applying NRS 0.025(2)'s explanation of the arrow symbol as indicating a flush line to NRS 108.22112); Boucher v. Shaw, 124 Nev. 1164, 1168, 196 P.3d 959, 962 (2008) (referring to NRS 0.039's definition of the term person); Baldonado v. Wynn Las Vegas, 124 Nev. 951, 963 n. 29, 194 P.3d 96, 104 n. 29 (2008) (noting NRS 0.025(l)(a) instructions for the use of the term may in the Nevada Revised Statutes); Glover v. Concerned Citizens for Fuji Park, 118 Nev. 488, 493 & n. 8, 50 P.3d 546, 549 & n. 8 (2002) (explaining that, under NRS 0.033, Carson City is treated as a county by the Nevada Revised Statutes), disapproved on other grounds by Garvin v. Dist. Ct., 118 Nev. 749, 59 P.3d 1180 (2002). The relevant inquiry in the present matter, then, is whether Washoe County had a population of 400,000 or more people on June 14, 2007, the date on which the alleged incident occurred. Applying NRS 0.050, on that date, the last preceding national decennial census would have been the 2000 census. According to the 2000 census figures, Washoe County had a population of 339,486, which places its population below 400,000 during the relevant time period. [4] As a result, we conclude that NRS 706.473 applied to Washoe County at the time of the alleged incident, and we reject Encoe's assertion that the statute is inapplicable to this dispute.