NRS 176.211 is the Nevada law that allows defendants who plead guilty or no contest to certain crimes in Nevada to get their case dismissed and sealed. Here is how it works:
The defendant pleads no guilty or no contest to the charge. The judge defers judgment (does not convict) and sets a date by which the defendant must complete various terms. These typically include:
- Restitution payments
- Court cost payments
- Community service hours
- Other fines
- Probation
- A specialty court program
If the defendant completes everything successfully, the judge then dismisses the charge–meaning there is no conviction. And the judge will order that the record gets sealed. But if the defendant gets in trouble with the law again, this case does count as a conviction for the purposes of setting bail or imposing penalties.
If the defendant does not complete the terms or otherwise violates the rules, the court may convict the defendant of the original charge. (If the charge was for a first- or second violation of drug possession (NRS 453.336), and if the court takes the defendant out of the drug program, the defendant can withdraw the plea.)
Note that deferral of judgment is not available to defendants convicted of either:
- violent or sexual offenses under NRS 202.876;
- crimes against a child under NRS 179D.0357; or
- NRS 200.508 violations
For more information contact our Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys.
See also State v. Locker (2022) 138 Nev. Advance Opinion 62.