2020 Nevada Revised Statutes
Chapter 179 - Special Proceedings of a Criminal Nature; Sealing Records of Criminal Proceedings; Rewards; Forms
NRS 179.045 - Issuance and contents; sealing information upon which warrant is based; time for serving warrant.

1. A search warrant may issue only on affidavit or affidavits sworn to before the magistrate and establishing the grounds for issuing the warrant or as provided in subsection 3. If the magistrate is satisfied that grounds for the application exist or that there is probable cause to believe that they exist, the magistrate shall issue a warrant identifying the property and naming or describing the person or place to be searched.

2. Secure electronic transmission may be used for the submission of an application and affidavit required by subsection 1, and for the issuance of a search warrant by a magistrate. The Nevada Supreme Court may adopt rules not inconsistent with the laws of this State to carry out the provisions of this subsection.

3. In lieu of the affidavit required by subsection 1, the magistrate may take an oral statement given under oath, which must be recorded in the presence of the magistrate or in the magistrate’s immediate vicinity by a certified court reporter or by electronic means, transcribed, certified by the reporter if the reporter recorded it, and certified by the magistrate. The statement must be filed with the clerk of the court.

4. Upon a showing of good cause, the magistrate may order an affidavit or a recording of an oral statement given pursuant to this section to be sealed. Upon a showing of good cause, a court may cause the affidavit or recording to be unsealed.

5. After a magistrate has issued a search warrant, whether it is based on an affidavit or an oral statement given under oath, the magistrate may orally authorize a peace officer to sign the name of the magistrate on a duplicate original warrant. A duplicate original search warrant shall be deemed to be a search warrant. It must be returned to the magistrate who authorized the signing of it. The magistrate shall endorse his or her name and enter the date on the warrant when it is returned. Any failure of the magistrate to make such an endorsement and entry does not in itself invalidate the warrant.

6. The warrant must be directed to a peace officer in the county where the warrant is to be executed. It must:

(a) State the grounds or probable cause for its issuance and the names of the persons whose affidavits have been taken in support thereof; or

(b) Incorporate by reference the affidavit or oral statement upon which it is based.

The warrant must command the officer to search forthwith the person or place named for the property specified.

7. The warrant must direct that it be served between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., unless the magistrate, upon a showing of good cause therefor, inserts a direction that it be served at any time.

8. The warrant must designate the magistrate to whom it is to be returned.

9. As used in this section, "secure electronic transmission" means the sending of information from one computer system to another computer system in such a manner as to ensure that:

(a) No person other than the intended recipient receives the information;

(b) The identity of the sender of the information can be authenticated; and

(c) The information which is received by the intended recipient is identical to the information that was sent.

(Added to NRS by 1967, 1459; A 1975, 39; 1981, 1652; 1993, 1412; 1997, 741; 2015, 2487)