Nevada Revised Statutes
Nev. Rev. Stat. § 171.102 (2026)
Complaint defined; oath or declaration required
✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
NRSleg.state.nv.us (official)
Justiaon Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
NRS 171.102 Complaint defined; oath or declaration required. The complaint is a written statement of the
essential facts constituting the public offense charged. It must be made upon:
1. Oath before a magistrate or a notary public; or
2. Declaration which is made subject to the penalty for perjury.
(Added to NRS by 1967, 1400; A 1969, 387; 1983, 446)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1969–2025 · leading case: Polson v. State, 843 P.2d 825 (Nev. 1992).
Polson v. State, 843 P.2d 825 (Nev. 1992). “NRS 171.102. 2 The citation in question contained language above the arresting officer’s signature stating that he was signing under penalty of perjury.”
Stockton v. Sheriff, Clark Cnty., 482 P.2d 285 (Nev. 1971). “However, the magistrate dismissed the proceedings upon his own motion when he discovered that the complaint was defective because it had not been signed or sworn to in compliance with NRS 171.102. 2 On December 12, 1969, the state filed another complaint against the appellant on…”
Williams v. Mun. Judge, 456 P.2d 440 (Nev. 1969). “The police officer who signed the complaint against Williams did so in the presence of a notary public rather than before a magistrate, as prescribed in NRS 171.102. 1 Williams entered a plea of guilty to the charge and was fined $500.”
Perelman v. State, 981 P.2d 1199 (Nev. 1999). “Perelman also contends that the complaint did not allege any facts establishing when the continuous course of conduct ended and was thus fatally defective regardless of whether the crimes were continuous.”
Sanders v. Sheriff, Washoe Cnty., 451 P.2d 718 (Nev. 1969). “Under these circumstances, the complaint is intended *182 solely to put the defendant on formal written notice of the charge he must defend. It need not show probable cause for arrest on its face and may simply be drawn in the words of the statute so long as the essential…”
Gonzales v. Gittere (9th Cir. 2025). “By definition, a complaint in Nevada requires affidavits or affidavit-equivalent documents, see Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 171.102 , 171.106, 53.”
Atkins (James) v. State (Nev. 2013). “See NRS 171.102. In regard to his claim of a double jeopardy violation, he had not yet been tried or punished for any of the offenses and thus double jeopardy was not at issue.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.