According to Nevada law, when considering population counts for apportionment of legislative districts, an inmate’s location must be considered as their previous Nevada residence just before incarceration, not their current Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) facility location. The U.S. Census Bureau does not account for population changes required by individual state law in the datasets they provide.

It is up to the individual state to make necessary revisions to the U.S. Census Bureau’s data based upon their own laws.

Nevada Statute:

NRS 218B.105  Certain population counts involving state inmates must be used for apportionment of legislative districts.  The population counts for every block, block group and census tract as revised by the State Demographer pursuant to NRS 360.288 must be used for the apportionment of legislative districts. (Added to NRS by 2019, 985)

NRS 360.288  Revision of population counts to count inmate in block, block group and census tract in which inmate resided before incarceration.     1.  Upon the completion of the national decennial census conducted by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce, the State Demographer shall revise the population counts for every block, block group and census tract as set forth in the census to count every inmate who was a resident of the State before incarceration in the block, block group and census tract of which an inmate was a resident before his or her incarceration.     2.  The Department of Corrections shall, upon request, provide to the State Demographer all available information requested by the State Demographer in carrying out the provisions of subsection 1.     3.  As used in this section: (a) “Block” means the smallest geographical unit whose boundaries were designated by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce in its topographically integrated geographic encoding and referencing system. (b) “Block group” means a combination of blocks whose numbers begin with the same digit. (c) “Census tract” means a combination of block groups. (d) “Inmate” means a person who was determined to be incarcerated in a facility or institution of the Department of Corrections at the last preceding national decennial census conducted by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce. (e) “State Demographer” means the demographer employed by the Department of Taxation pursuant to NRS 360.283. (Added to NRS by 2019, 987)

History: AB 450 Legislative Page