Nevada prison board adopts AR 4.94 setting clinical review, annual housing reviews for transgender and gender‑diverse inmates

The Board of State Prison Commissioners voted Wednesday to approve Administrative Regulation (AR) 4.94, which the Nevada Department of Corrections said adds clinical definitions aligned with National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) standards, requires clinician review when an individual disputes their assigned gender, and allows annual (rather than triennial) review of housing requests for transgender, intersex and gender‑diverse offenders.

The change also adds a requirement that housing and accommodation decisions must comply with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), and establishes a multidisciplinary review panel of medical/clinical and custody staff to determine accommodations, Director Zorinda said during the meeting. “The review committee will determine accommodations, any accommodations, and they are multidisciplinary panels that consist of medical, medical, or clinical, and custody staff,” Zorinda said.

The regulation updates clinical definitions to mirror NCCHC standards, Zorinda said, and clarifies that healthcare and clinical services will be offered to any gender housed in department facilities. The board discussed the regulation during the administrative‑regulation agenda item and then reopened the agenda later in the meeting to vote; a motion to approve AR 4.94 passed on a voice vote.

The board did not cite changes to other statutes or describe a timeline for written implementation in the meeting record. Board counsel noted a typographical error on the agenda affecting the AR number and said the correct AR was attached to meeting materials; counsel said staff would confirm whether the item needed to be re‑noticed if further correction were required.

The regulation was presented as an administrative rule not subject to the Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 233B rulemaking process, and there was no separate public hearing on the regulation during this meeting beyond the board’s public comment periods.

The board’s approval was made by voice vote after the item was reopened later in the agenda; no roll‑call vote tally by name appears in the transcript.

AR 4.94 will be implemented by department staff under the direction of the director’s office; the regulation text attached to the meeting packet was identified in the record but the board did not provide an explicit implementation schedule during the meeting.