NRS § 205.060 – Nevada “Burglary” Laws & Penalties

Nevada Revised Statute § 205.060 makes it a felony to commit burglary, which is entering a building or vehicle with the intent to commit larceny, assault, battery, or any felony once inside.

The penalties depend on the location. For example, residential burglary carries one to 10 years in Nevada State Prison while car burglary usually requires only probation. Though if a deadly weapon is involved, any NRS 205.060 conviction carries two to 15 years behind bars.

There are many way to fight Nevada burglary charges. It may be possible to plea bargain the case down to a misdemeanor like petty theft or possibly a dismissal.

In this article, our Las Vegas criminal defense lawyers will address the following key issues regarding burglary:

• 1. Elements of NRS 205.060
• 2. “Breaking and Entering”
• 3. Penalties
• 4. Possession of Burglary Tools
• 5. Defenses
• 6. Record Seals
• 7. Immigration Consequences
• 8. Related Crimes
• Additional Reading

1. Elements of NRS 205.060

For you to be convicted of burglary in Nevada, prosecutors have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the following two elements:

1. You entered a home, business, structure, vehicle, plane, or railcar, and
2. Before entering, you had the intent to commit any of the following crimes once inside:
   • Petty larceny: stealing money or items valued at less than $1,200;
   • Grand larceny: stealing money or items valued at $1,200 or more;
   • Battery: unlawful touching, such as a punch;
   • Assault: putting someone in imminent fear of being unlawfully touched;
   • A felony: a crime which carries a minimum of one year in prison; or
   • Obtaining money or property by false pretenses: defrauding someone for money or goods (only in residential burglary cases).¹

To convict you of burglary, prosecutors do not need to prove that you actually committed any of these offenses inside the structure or vehicle. Merely having the criminal intent to commit one of these offenses at the time of entry is enough.²

Example: Hector walks into his workplace at night intending to steal the $1,500 his boss keeps in the safe. Though once he goes inside, he feels guilty and decides not to steal anything. In this case, Hector can still be charged with burglary merely for intending to commit theft at the time he entered the building. The fact he had a change of heart does not let him off the hook.

If Hector did follow through with stealing the money, then the district attorney could charge him with two offenses: burglary and grand larceny.³

Note that you can be convicted of burglary whether or not someone was inside the structure or vehicle at the time of the offense.

2. “Breaking and Entering”

You may be charged with burglary in Nevada even if there was no forced entry.⁴ As long as you intended to commit a qualifying crime inside a building or vehicle, you violated NRS 205.060 even if you:

• entered through an open door or window,
• entered through an unlocked door or window, or
• were invited to come inside.

However, if you do “break and enter,” the judge and jury may infer that you had “burglarious intent.” The burden then shifts to us to present evidence to the court that you had no intent to commit a crime while inside.⁵

3. Penalties

In Nevada, the most serious NRS 205.060 crime is burglary with a deadly weapon (such as a firearm, knife, pipe, brick, or broken glass). No matter the location, armed burglary is a category B felony carrying two to 15 years in prison and up to $10,000.⁶

Meanwhile, penalties for burglary without a deadly weapon depend on the location.

For instance, residential burglary is a category B felony in Nevada, carrying one to 10 years in prison. The judge may grant probation and a suspended sentence if:

• there are mitigating circumstances, and
• you were not previously convicted of burglary or an offense involving unlawful entry or invasion of a dwelling.

Slightly less serious is burglary of a business (“commercial burglary”), which is a category C felony in Nevada. It carries one to five years in prison and up to $10,000.

The sentence for burglary of any other structure is even less serious. It is a category D felony in Nevada, carrying one to four years in prison and up to $5,000.

Finally, burglary of a motor vehicle is only a category E felony for a first offense, which usually carries probation and a suspended sentence. Though a subsequent offense of car burglary is a category D felony, carrying one to four years in prison and up to $5,000.⁷

Note that sexually motivated burglary carries lifetime supervision under NRS 176.0931. Though it may be possible to get off lifetime supervision after 10 years.

4. Possession of Burglary Tools

It is a separate crime in Nevada to possess certain tools if the circumstances suggest that you intended to use the tools for burglary.

Example: Acting on a tip, police get a warrant to search Josh’s home. There they find several picklocks and other instruments traditionally used to break locks. The police also find a list of residences with the dates and times that the occupants will be away. In this case, prosecutors would probably charge Josh for possession of burglary tools. This is because he had 1) tools used for breaking and entering, and 2) lists of unoccupied homes, indicating his intent to burglarize them.

In the above example, it is irrelevant that Josh was not caught trying to enter someone’s home. Merely possessing picklocks under suspicious circumstances is sufficient for a prosecutor to bring charges.

Possession of burglary tools under NRS 205.080 is a gross misdemeanor. The maximum sentence is 364 days in jail and/or $2,000 in fines.⁸

5. Defenses

Here at Las Vegas Defense Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with theft crimes such as burglary. In our experience, the following three defenses have proven very effective with Nevada prosecutors, judges, and juries at getting NRS 205.060 charges reduced or dismissed.

1) You Lacked Intent

No burglary occurred if you lacked intent to commit a qualifying crime inside the building, structure, or vehicle before entering it.⁹

Example: Jan and Sam live next door to each other in a neighborhood where no one locks their doors. One day Jan enters Sam’s vacant home to return a phone charger Jan borrowed. Once inside, Jan notices a Rolex on Sam’s bedtable. Jan takes it and leaves Sam’s house with it.

In the above example, Jan did not commit a burglary offense because she formed the intent to steal the Rolex after she already entered the house, not before. Instead, Jan would face just grand larceny charges for taking the Rolex without Sam’s permission.

As long as there remains a reasonable doubt that you had burglarious intent, the NRS 205.060 charge should be dismissed.

Note that if you were intoxicated at the time of the alleged burglary, that could be a defense if you were too incapacitated to form intent.¹⁰

2) You Were Falsely Accused

Sometimes the police arrest the wrong person for burglary. Typical reasons for these mistaken arrests include that:

• you were falsely accused by someone else out of revenge or anger,
• you resemble the real perpetrator, and/or
• you have the same name as the real perpetrator.

Furthermore, many alleged burglary incidents occur by masked perpetrators in the dark of night. So it may be difficult to discern the identity of the suspect through eyewitnesses or surveillance video: This could lead to you getting wrongly charged.

If we can show that the prosecutors’ evidence is too unreliable or inadequate to identify you as the burglar, then the criminal charge should be dismissed.

3) The Police Committed Misconduct

Occasionally police make mistakes that violate your rights. Examples of such police misconduct include:

• coercing a confession,
• conducting a search and seizure that violates the Fourth Amendment,
• planting evidence or fabricating evidence, and/or
• feeding leading questions to witnesses during a line-up.

If this happens, we can file a motion to suppress evidence asking the judge to disregard all the evidence that the police unearthed through wrongful means. If the court grants the motion, then the D.A. may be left with too weak a case to continue.

At that point, the prosecutor may be more willing to dismiss the charge or offer a favorable plea bargain.

6. Record Sealing

The waiting period to seal Nevada criminal records for burglary depends on whether the theft allegedly occurred in a residence or not, as the following table shows.¹¹

Nevada Burglary Conviction	Record Seal Waiting Period
Burglary of a residence	10 years after the case ends
Burglary of business or structure, or Burglary of a motor vehicle (subsequent offense)	5 years after the case ends
Burglary of a motor vehicle (first offense)	2 years after the case ends
Dismissal (no conviction)	Right away

7. Immigration Consequences

Burglary is considered an aggravated felony, which is a deportable offense.¹²

Therefore, non-citizens facing charges of violating NRS 205.060 should consult with an experienced immigration and criminal defense attorney right away to try to get the charge reduced to a non-deportable crime.

8. Related Theft Crimes

Home Invasion (NRS 205.067)

Home invasion is forcibly entering an inhabited dwelling in Nevada without permission of the owner or lawful occupant. It makes no difference whether a person is present at the time of the entry or if you end up stealing anything.

Home invasion is prosecuted as a category B felony and carries the same penalties as burglary.

Housebreaking (NRS 205.0813)

Housebreaking is the formal term in Nevada for “squatting,” which is entering a vacant dwelling for the purpose of unlawful residency. A first offense is a gross misdemeanor, carrying up to 364 days in jail and/or $2,000.

Robbery (NRS 200.380)

In Nevada, robbery is unlawfully taking property from another by force, violence, or threats of injury. A typical example is holding up a cashier at gunpoint.

Robbery is prosecuted as a category B felony carrying two to 15 years in prison. Though if you had a deadly weapon, the judge may as much as double the sentence.

Larceny from a Person (NRS 205.270)

Pick-pocketing is prosecuted in Nevada as larceny from a person. You use no threats or violence, and the victim usually does not realize they have been stolen from until later.

Larceny from a person is a category C felony, carrying one to five years in prison, up to $10,000, and restitution. The court may not grant probation if the victim had an infirmity.

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• From the Thief in the Night to the Guest Who Stayed Too Long: The Evolution of Burglary in the Shadow of the Common Law – Indiana Law Review.
• Burglary – Crime & Justice article giving an overview of burglary laws.
• Reformation of Burglary – William & Mary Law Review article on how burglary laws have changed and can change.
• Reconceptualizing Burglary: An Analysis of the Use of Burglary as a Criminal Enhancement – Virginia Journal of Criminal Law.
• That’s Not a Burglary! Classic Crimes and Current Codes – Houston Law Review.

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