Opinion ID: 2461173
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Public trust doctrine principles in the Nevada Constitution

Text: Article 8, Section 9 of the Nevada Constitution prohibits the gift or loan of public funds and credit: The State shall not donate or loan money, or its credit, subscribe to or be, interested in the Stock of any company, association, or corporation, except corporations formed for educational or charitable purposes. Similar provisions in other state constitutions are referred to as gift clauses, as they generally prohibit gifts of taxpayer funds. In considering Nevada's gift clause, we have stated that transactions disbursing public funds must be struck down if not made for a public purpose. State ex rel. Brennan v. Bowman, 89 Nev. 330, 332-34, 512 P.2d 1321, 1322-23 (1973). We have also closely examined such transactions to ensure that the state actually receives valuable benefit. See Clark County v. Lewis, 88 Nev. 354, 357, 498 P.2d 363, 365 (1972). Our caselaw stresses the importance of the dispensing state entity reviewing [a]ll facts, figures and necessary information when making a dispensation; when the entity has done so, it will not be second-guessed by the courts. Id. Thus, the Legislature's ability to dispose of the public's resources is expressly limited by the gift clause, at the core of which lays the principle that the state acts only as a fiduciary for the public when disposing of the public's valuable property. See Brennan, 89 Nev. at 332-34, 512 P.2d at 1322-23; Lewis, 88 Nev. at 357, 498 P.2d at 365. The public trust doctrine is based on that same principle upheld by the gift clause: the state must carefully safeguard public trust lands by dispensing them only when in the public's interest. Stated differently, the public trust doctrine, like the gift clause, requires the state to serve as trustee for public resources. We see no reason for treating public trust waterways any differently than public money and credit, insofar as the state must act as trustee to preserve the public's interest in that property. Therefore, we conclude that the constitutional policy contained in the gift clause infers the people's intent to constrain the Legislature's ability to alienate public trust lands as well as public funds.