Two unlikely allies — the Nevada Resort Association and Culinary Workers Union Local 226 — are pushing for an amendment to Gov. Joe Lombardo’s criminal justice bill (SB457) that would allow judges to ban people convicted of misdemeanor crimes from a tourism corridor for up to a year.
The proposal comes as Democratic lawmakers have put forward a new provision to Lombardo’s bill that would allow Clark County to reestablish a specialty court focused on crimes committed in a tourism corridor — widely considered to be the Strip — and the amendment from the Culinary Union and Resorts Association would step up penalties for repeat offenders.
In a last-minute joint letter to Gov. Joe Lombardo and members of the Legislature obtained by The Nevada Independent, Resort Association President and CEO Virginia Valentine and Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge urged lawmakers to adopt the proposal reestablishing the court with powers to ban people from the region. The courts, which began operating in 2023 and created a single judicial department that assigned all criminal cases where the alleged offense was committed within the Strip, ceased operating last year.