“House Arrest” in Las Vegas – Can I do it instead of jail?

House arrest in Nevada is a type of alternative sentencing that allows you to live at home instead of jail or prison while

• awaiting trial (“pretrial release”) or
• serving a sentence.

During house arrest, you have to wear an electronic monitoring anklet.

While on house arrest, you may have to submit to random alcohol and drug testing and warrantless searches. You may also have to surrender your passport and firearms.

Depending on your case, you may be allowed to go to work, school, counseling, rehab, AA, court, doctor’s appointments, and other court-approved activities. Visitors are usually allowed while you are on house arrest as long as everyone is behaving lawfully.

Obviously, house arrest is far preferable to jail because you get to be at home. The state prefers it as well because it is cheaper and easier than incarcerating you. Though if you violate your house arrest terms, you face being remanded to jail or prison.

Technically, “house arrest” is not the most accurate term since most people on house arrest are allowed to leave their homes. The more proper term is electronic monitoring.

If you are on house arrest in Clark County, you are assigned to one of three electronic monitoring levels, as the following table shows:

In this article, our Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys will address the following key issues regarding house arrest:

• 1. Timing
• 2. How It Works
• 3. Eligibility
• 4. Violations
• 5. Costs
• 6. Cell Phones
• 7. Alcohol
• 8. Visitors
• Government Resources
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Additional Reading

1. Timing

In Nevada, a judge may impose house arrest at one of two points during a criminal case:

1. After you are arrested and awaiting trial. The typical scenario is that you can pay the required bail, but the criminal charges are too serious for you to have total freedom of travel.
2. When you are convicted, and the judge imposes a sentence. Judges may grant you house arrest instead of – or in addition to – prison. You are usually entered into the Nevada Department of Public Safety’s Intensive Supervision Program, which monitors you for the duration of the house arrest. Your house arrest will last the length of your would-be jail/prison sentence minus any time served.

If a judge grants you house arrest, you can typically be released and put on house arrest that same day.¹

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department uses a GPS-based EMP system called Omnilink.

2. How It Works

In Clark County, house arrest is typically referred to as the “Electronic Monitoring Program” (or EMP), because you are required to wear an ankle monitor that tracks your real-time location.

Note that when police say “house arrest,” they are typically referring to High-Level EMP, rather than Medium- or Low-Level. That is because High-Level EMP is the only level requiring you to remain in your residence for most of the time.

While under house arrest, you may go only to and from the court-approved locations and nowhere else unless the court allows otherwise. You cannot even stop at a place on the way.

Types of Tracking Devices

Most people on electronic monitoring are outfitted with a GPS tracking tether, which uses satellite technology to track their location and transmit it to the police at regular intervals. Police can also program “no-zones” into the anklet (called “geofencing”), and they are notified when you enter an excluded area.

“GPS Passive trackers” are similar to the active tracker. The main difference is that passive trackers do not transmit information in real time; instead, they store your information, and the police or probation officers can access it later.

Violating the terms of your house arrest could result in you getting remanded to jail.

3. Eligibility

Whether you can remain out of custody on house arrest depends on the case and the underlying charges or convictions. Obviously, Nevada judges favor you if you:

• are cooperative,
• are non-violent,
• have a minimal criminal history, and
• are not a flight risk.

Your attorney usually has to request house arrest and then convince the judge that you deserve it and will abide by the rules. Sometimes a parole board recommends you for house arrest.

4. Violations

While you are on house arrest in Nevada, law enforcement receives an alert if you even tamper with your anklet, break curfew, or go near prohibited areas (called “exclusion zones” such as a victim’s home).

If you then get arrested for violating house arrest, you are constitutionally entitled to a prompt evidentiary hearing. Furthermore, prosecutors have the burden to prove you violated your terms.

Note that if the equipment merely malfunctioned or you had an innocent accident, the judge should not impose any punishment.²

5. Costs

In Las Vegas Municipal Court, house arrest costs $12 a day, plus a one-time $100 administrative fee.³

Law enforcement actually prefers house arrest to incarceration because it is less work and less costly for them.

Certain people on house arrest are allowed to leave for certain reasons, such as doctor’s appointments.

6. Cell Phones

You need a landline or a cell phone to go on electronic monitoring in the first place in Nevada. However, the judge may restrict who you can communicate with and whether you can access the internet.

7. Alcohol

If you are on house arrest in Nevada, you must abstain from alcohol.

You may be required to wear a SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor) device, which measures your alcohol concentration hourly through the skin (called “transdermal monitoring”). If the SCRAM detects alcohol, it will notify law enforcement.

Breathalyzers

In some Nevada cases, the judge may require that you keep a breathalyzer monitor to breathe into on demand. These devices also photograph you during the test to deter you from cheating.

In DUI cases, you may need to install an ignition interlock device (IID) in your car as a condition of being able to drive. The IID is a breathalyzer attached to your steering wheel, and it disables your car if it detects alcohol on your breath.

House arrest is more common in gross misdemeanor and felony cases than in misdemeanor cases.

8. Visitors

In most Nevada cases, you are allowed to have visitors at your home while on house arrest. Be sure to continue following the terms of your release, such as avoiding alcohol and drugs.

Government Resources

For more detailed information on specific house arrest programs in Nevada, refer to these official local, state, and federal government websites:

• Clark County: House Arrest – Detailed questions-and-answers on how the Clark County Detention Center “electronic monitoring program” works.
• Washoe County: House Arrest/ Electronic Monitoring – Explanation of how defendants in Washoe County can remain out of custody on bail or on probation while being electronically monitored.
• Nevada State Police Parole and Probation: Residential Confinement – Overview of various electronic monitoring protocols for Nevada State Prison parolees and probationers.
• Nevada State Police Parole and Probation: Pre-Release Unit – Overview of how some Nevada State Prison inmates get transferred to residential confinement programs that require electronic monitoring.
• United States Probation Office District of Nevada: Location Monitoring – Guide to how federal defendants on probation in Nevada may remain out of prison with electronic monitoring.

House arrest is also referred to as “HA”, “home confinement” or “home detention”.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does house arrest cost in Las Vegas?

In Las Vegas Municipal Court, house arrest costs $12 per day plus a one-time $100 administrative fee. These fees help cover the electronic monitoring equipment and supervision.

What happens if I violate my house arrest terms?

If you violate house arrest terms, law enforcement gets an alert and you may be arrested. You have the right to a hearing where prosecutors must prove you violated the terms. If found guilty, you could be sent to jail or prison, but if it was equipment malfunction or an accident, you shouldn’t be punished.

Can I leave my house while on house arrest in Nevada?

It depends on your monitoring level. High-level house arrest requires you to stay home except for court-approved activities like work, school, doctor visits, or counseling. Medium and low levels allow more freedom but may include curfews and restrictions on where you can go.

Do I need to have a phone to be eligible for house arrest?

Yes, you need either a landline or cell phone to be placed on electronic monitoring in Nevada. However, the judge may limit who you can contact or whether you can use the internet while on house arrest.

Additional Reading

For more general information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• Home as Prison: The Use of House Arrest – Federal Probation.
• Between the ‘Home’ and ‘Institutional’ Worlds: Tensions and Contradictions in the Practice of House Arrest – Critical Criminology.
• House Arrest: A Critical Analysis of an Intermediate-Level Penal Sanction – University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
• A Brief History of House Arrest and Electronic Monitoring – Northern Kentucky Law Review.
• Exploring the Option of House Arrest – Federal Probation.

Legal References