Nevada Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, introduced Thursday a bill designed to lengthen and standardize residency requirements for candidates seeking elective office in Nevada.
SB125 would make the residency requirement a standard one year before the close of filing for office. The rule would require city council and county commission members as well as judges and other elective officers to be residents of their ward or district for a full year before they could run to represent it.
The same rules would be imposed on candidates for the Nevada Legislature, as well as higher offices.
It would require each candidate attest to meeting that requirement in his declaration of candidacy.
SB125 points out that residency requirements vary widely among city charters, county ordinances and for state offices.
Some are as short as 30 days residency in the county, city or district the office represents. Others set the requirement in different ways, including requiring the individual be a resident of a district since November of the preceding year.
The only exceptions in the bill are for district attorneys. Some of Nevada's small counties are represented by district attorneys who live in larger communities.
The bill was referred to the Legislative Operations and Elections Committee for study.
