Committee hears bill to let courts award attorney fees in some public-works writs

Senate Bill 447, presented to the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs, would explicitly allow courts to consider awarding reasonable attorney fees and costs to successful petitioners in writs of mandamus involving public works. Andy Donahue, representing the Southern Nevada Laborers Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, presented the measure on behalf of Sen. Edgar Flores (Senate District 2).

Donahue said the bill is intended to promote accountability and competitive markets by giving judges discretion to reimburse reasonable costs when a public agency is ordered to follow the law. "This adds a second type of case to that short list, specifically cases that result in judges telling the government to follow the law, also known as writs of mandamus," Donahue said, adding the bill leaves reimbursement to judicial discretion based on the record in each case.

Supporters said the measure is narrow and aimed at situations where administrative errors deprive small businesses or workers of the ability to compete or be paid. Sen. Edgar Flores, the bill sponsor, described scenarios in which a business that is owed payment must hire counsel and pursue court relief to compel a government actor to perform: "If you're going to make me spend money and you're gonna make me spend weeks or months doing this, then I should be made whole," Flores said.

Opponents — including the Nevada Contractors Association, Associated General Contractors (Northern Nevada), the Urban Consortium of cities, the Nevada Association of Counties and the Nevada League of Cities — argued the bill would expose public agencies to increased legal liability, potentially override existing contract provisions that prohibit fee awards, and encourage litigation instead of administrative resolution. "At the federal level in the vast majority of states and in Nevada, this type of writ is almost never accompanied with a specific entitlement for a prevailing party to be awarded attorney's fees and costs," said Jimmy Lau of Ferrari & Reader Public Affairs, representing the Nevada Contractors Association.

Witnesses from local governments said existing statutory and contractual remedies and processes (including NRS chapter 338 and the writ procedures in NRS chapter 34) already provide remedies for public-works disputes and that inserting a statutory fee-authority could reduce flexibility and increase costs for taxpayers. Isaac Hardy of the Urban Consortium said the current process "has historically worked well" and recommended preserving contractual flexibility between contractors and local governments.

Committee members asked whether the bill creates a mandatory fee award or leaves the matter to judicial discretion; Donahue and Sen. Flores responded that the bill uses permissive language and would be a "may" decision for the court, not an automatic entitlement. No committee vote was recorded during the hearing; sponsors said they were willing to work with opponents to address concerns.

Procedure note: the hearing included multiple opponents and no recorded public-support callers by phone; the committee closed the SB 447 hearing after final remarks from the sponsor.