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Committee backs hearing on AB142 to extend stress-related industrial-insurance coverage to crime scene investigators
Summary
AB142 would expand industrial insurance protections to civilian crime scene investigators (CSIs) and analysts who routinely respond to violent deaths and traumatic scenes; CSIs and unions testified about repeated exposure to human suffering and urged the committee to adopt the change.
CARSON CITY — The Commerce and Labor Committee heard Assembly Bill 142, which would expand Nevada's industrial-insurance coverage for stress-related injuries to include civilian employees of law-enforcement agencies whose primary duties involve responding to and investigating crime scenes.
Sponsor Assemblywoman Elaine Marzola said the bill builds on a 2023 law (AB410) that allowed stress-related conditions for firefighters, police officers, emergency dispatchers and public-safety EMTs to be treated as industrial injuries. AB142 would add CSIs and analysts to that statutory protection.
Rick McCann, representing the Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers and allied groups, told the committee CSIs "see some of the worst things that happen in humanity, including fatal vehicle accidents, child abuse cases, elder abuse cases, animal abuse cases, ****** assaults, victims of shootings and suicides, all similar to other first responders." He described case-level exposure, including repeated autopsy work and lengthy crime-scene processing.
Crime scene analysts from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department described their experiences on the record. Kristin Grammas, CSI director, said the unit responded to 841 dead-body calls in 2024, including autopsies and homicide investigations, and that analysts spent thousands of hours documenting severe scenes. Several CSIs and union representatives testified to long-term mental-health impacts, PTSD symptoms, and workplace consequences including substance use and suicide among colleagues.
Union witnesses asked the committee to recognize repeated exposure to violent death and secondary trauma as industrially compensable. The Las Vegas Police Protective Association (civilian unit) and the Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers supported the bill and framed it as parity for civilian investigative staff who undertake work akin to sworn first responders.
No witness from the opposition testified. The committee closed the hearing after sponsor closing remarks and indicated the bill will be carried forward for consideration.
Ending — The committee closed the hearing with sponsor and supporters urging statutory parity for CSIs; no committee vote was recorded during the hearing.
