Opinion ID: 2460291
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Nevada constitutional provisions proscribing local and special laws

Text: The Nevada Constitution provides that [t]he legislature shall not pass local or special laws . . . [f]or the assessment and collection of taxes for state, county, and township purposes, Nev. Const. art. 4, § 20, and it further requires that [i]n all cases enumerated in [Section 20], and in all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, all laws shall be general and of uniform operation throughout the State. Nev. Const. art. 4, § 21. This court has explained the prohibition against local and special laws under Article 4, Sections 20 and 21 as follows: [I]f a statute be either a special or local law, or both, and comes within any one or more of the cases enumerated in section 20, such statute is unconstitutional; if the statute be special or local, or both, but does not come within any of the cases enumerated in section 20, then its constitutionality depends upon whether a general law can be made applicable. Conservation District v. Beemer, 56 Nev. 104, 116, 45 P.2d 779, 782 (1935). Because history instructs the analysis that follows, we first explain the origins of the Nevada Constitution's proscriptions on such laws and the constitutional framers' purpose in adopting provisions limiting the Legislature's authority to enact local and special laws before delving into why A.B. 6, section 18 fits within the proscribed local and special laws set forth under Nevada Constitution Article 4, Sections 20 and 21.