Committee hears bill to shorten disclosure window for pre‑sentence reports, allow limited PSI waivers

The Nevada Assembly Judiciary Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 7 on procedural deadlines for pre‑sentence investigation reports, with supporters saying the bill would help Parole and Probation produce more complete reports when outside evaluations are delayed.

Advocates said the bill would reduce the statutory disclosure window from 14 days to seven while keeping the division’s 45‑day deadline to complete a PSI. The measure would also allow pre‑sentence reports to be submitted without a psychosexual evaluation if the evaluation is not received in time and would shield division personnel from contempt citations when an evaluation delay requires additional time.

Tamara Jackson, identified in the hearing as representing the Department of Public Safety’s Parole and Probation Division, told the committee that Nevada law currently gives the division 45 days to complete a PSI and that a separate statute requires the completed report be provided to the parties 14 days before sentencing. Jackson said the two statutes are independent and the 14‑day disclosure period, combined with sentencing commonly scheduled 45 days after adjudication, can leave the division only about 31 days to complete the PSI, which strains staff and can impede collection of documentation for restitution and the inclusion of psychosexual evaluations.

Jackson said clinicians who perform psychosexual evaluations are limited in number and the division “cannot control the availability of clinicians nor their subsequent completion of the evaluation,” and that those timelines sometimes lead to personnel being criticized in court or threatened with contempt when a report cannot be completed within the disclosure period. She said the proposed amendment (submitted by the Second Judicial District Court) would additionally name the sentencing court alongside the county clerk in Section 3 to address jurisdictional differences among counties.

Clark County Public Defender representative Paolo Maguero and Jennifer Noble of the Nevada District Attorneys Association both testified in support after the committee accepted the amendment; Jackson said the division negotiated the change with public defenders and district attorneys.

Committee members asked Jackson about the number and qualifications of clinicians who perform psychosexual evaluations. Jackson said she did not have an exact statewide count but believed there were about four in northern Nevada and three or four in southern Nevada and that clinicians must meet training criteria and vendor approval; she said those able to perform the evaluations include psychologists, marriage and family therapists and psychiatrists who have the required additional training and certifications.

No formal vote was taken; the committee closed the hearing after receiving support testimony and the presenters’ final remarks.