Senate approves increased fees for county clerks

The Nevada Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to let county clerks raise fees for filing legal papers to raise a total of $883,283 a year.

Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, said the fees have been been unchanged for a decade and, with growing demands, they are necessary to provide services to the public.

Among the fees raised would be filing fees for civil suits and the defense fee for answering a complaint, which haven't been raised since 1993. Statewide, those increases would generate about $555,840.

In Carson City, it means the cost of filing a civil complaint would increase $14 to $160 and the cost for filing a civil answer would rise $13 to $112.

In addition, SB162 creates a fund for technology purchases and upgrades in clerks' offices by bumping up the fee for filing and recording a notary bond $5. That would bring in a statewide total of $37,828.

And the fee to fund arbitration programs would be doubled from $5 to $10, generating $289,615 for arbitration programs throughout the state.

Amodei said the legislation was requested by the Nevada Association of Counties.

It goes to the Assembly for review.