Do some members of the Nevada Legislature also work for the government?
Among the 63 members of the Nevada Legislature, 11 work for state or local government entities, according to a lawsuit filed by the Nevada Policy Research Institute. Two others left their government jobs in 2022.
For several years, NPRI has been legally challenging the rights of executive branch employees to serve in the legislative branch. The Nevada Constitution says, “No persons charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these [branches] shall exercise any functions, appertaining to either of the others.”
In 2022, NPRI won a unanimous Nevada Supreme Court decision allowing its case to proceed.
In January 2023, a lower court ruled four legislators who also hold government jobs, including teacher, adjunct professor and public defender, are not violating the constitutional separation of powers. NPRI has appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court and added seven other legislators to the suit. Oral arguments will begin in June.