Senate committee hears 'Mia's Law' to require background checks and master‑key controls in large apartment complexes

Senate Bill 114, commonly referenced in testimony as “Mia’s Law,” drew emotional testimony in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee as sponsors and family members described the case that prompted the measure and urged its passage. The bill would add a section to chapter 118A of the Nevada Revised Statutes requiring landlords of properties with more than 200 dwelling units on a single property to adopt written policies on the storage, issuance, return and security of dwelling unit keys and to require criminal background checks for applicants whose jobs provide access to unit keys.

“Senate bill 114 ... establishes enhanced safety standards for residential tenants, a measure often referred to as Mia’s Law,” said Sen. Julie Pizzina, the sponsor. The bill’s sponsor described the 2021 murder of 19‑year‑old Mia Marcano in Florida and noted similar local history, mentioning a 1982 Carson City case in which a maintenance worker murdered a tenant.

Ima Scarbriel, Mia’s mother, testified by Zoom about her daughter’s life and the circumstances of her death. “Mia’s law will require background checks for maintenance workers and anyone with unsupervised access to resident units,” Scarbriel said, urging lawmakers to pass the measure so “no parent should have to go through what we went through.”

Mia’s father, Marlon Marcano, and Jody Covington, co‑founder of the Mia Marcano Foundation, urged the committee to adopt the Denver‑and‑Virginia‑style protections that require background checks, key control systems and tenant notification policies. Covington said the laws already enacted in Florida and Virginia “aren’t just a legislative win, they are life‑saving policies.”

Witnesses in Carson City described a historically similar case. Marlene Walker spoke on behalf of Linda Bratton, whose daughter Sheila Harris was murdered in Carson City in 1982 by a maintenance worker who later was found to have prior violent convictions, testimony that supporters said illustrated the local need for the policy.

Senate Bill 114 would require landlords of qualifying properties to: adopt written key‑control policies, maintain a log identifying issuance and return of keys, require background checks for employees with access to dwelling keys, and provide proof of compliance to the Real Estate Division or a law enforcement agency on request. The bill excludes financial institutions and licensed real estate brokers and salespersons from the definition of landlord.

Committee members asked sponsors about the bill’s threshold (more than 200 units), statutory placement and implementation. Sponsor Pizzina said the measure was modeled on other states’ legislation and that legislative staff assisted in identifying that threshold; she said she would consider refinement if members requested it.

The committee took testimony and did not vote on SB 114 during the hearing. Sponsors and supporters indicated they would continue to work with committee staff and stakeholders to refine bill language.

The hearing record includes multiple family members and national and state advocates. The sponsor closed by saying adoption would “honor victims through prevention and give every resident confidence to say my home is my sanctuary.”