Getting hold of an official record of what happened sounds like it should be the easy part. In Nevada it is governed by a single statute that applies to every law enforcement agency in the state, and that statute is far more specific about what an agency must do than most people realise.
It sets a deadline measured in business days. It requires a written answer in defined situations. And where a request is refused, it requires the agency to say which law it is relying on rather than simply declining.
There is also a question worth settling before any of that, because for one very common situation the answer is that no police report exists at all.
Key Takeaways
- Requests for law enforcement records in Nevada are governed by the state’s public records statute.
- Public books and records “must be open at all times during office hours to inspection by any person,” subject to exceptions and to confidentiality declared by law.
- An agency has until the end of the fifth business day after receiving a request to respond.
- The statute sets out four things the agency may do, and three of them require a response in writing.
- If the record is held elsewhere, the agency must name the entity that has it, if known.
- A refusal on confidentiality grounds must include a citation to the specific statute or legal authority relied on.
- A fall inside a business or a residential building usually produces no police report, and the document to pursue is a different one.
A Fall Indoors Usually Produces No Police Report
This is worth saying first, because a great deal of effort gets spent chasing a document that was never created.
Police attend and document incidents on roads, and crashes generate their own paperwork. A fall in a shop aisle, a hotel corridor, a stairwell or a car park is ordinarily not a police matter at all. Nobody is dispatched, no officer writes anything, and no agency ever opens a file.
What usually exists instead is a report made by the property itself — by a manager, a security officer or a risk department — which is an internal business document rather than a public record. It is not obtained through a public records request, because it is not held by a governmental entity. It is obtained from the property, or later through the processes available once a claim is underway.
Where police did attend — because there was a crime, a serious injury requiring emergency response, or a fall in a public space that was reported — then a record may exist and the rest of this page applies.
What Governs a Request in Nevada
Nevada’s public records statute sets the baseline. NRS 239.010(1) provides that, “unless otherwise declared by law to be confidential, all public books and public records of a governmental entity must be open at all times during office hours to inspection by any person,” subject to the exceptions the section sets out.
Two things follow from that wording. The right runs to “any person,” so a requester does not have to establish standing or explain why they want it. And the starting position is openness, with confidentiality operating as an exception that has to come from somewhere rather than being assumed.
The Fifth Business Day
The timetable is fixed by NRS 239.0107(1), which runs from the point at which “the person who has legal custody or control of a public book or record of a governmental entity receives a written or oral request from a person.”
Note that an oral request counts. The obligation is triggered by the request being received, not by its form.
From that point the agency has until “the end of the fifth business day” to do one of four things.
The Four Permitted Responses
The statute does not leave the agency a general discretion. It sets out the options.
Paragraph (a) is compliance: “allow the person to inspect or copy the public book or record or, if the request is for the person to receive a copy of the public book or record, provide such a copy to the person.”
Paragraph (b) applies where the agency does not hold the record. It must then provide, in writing, “notice of the fact that it does not have legal custody or control of the public book or record” and “the name and address of the governmental entity that has legal custody or control of the public book or record, if known.” A requester who has gone to the wrong agency is entitled to be pointed at the right one.
Paragraph (c) applies where the agency cannot meet the deadline. It must give written notice of that fact and of “the earliest date and time after which the governmental entity reasonably believes the public book or record will be available.” If that date passes without the record appearing, the agency must then provide, again in writing, “an explanation of the reason the public book or record is not available” and a further date and time. It must also “make a reasonable effort to assist the requester to focus the request in such a manner as to maximize the likelihood the requester will be able to inspect, copy or receive a copy of the public book or record as expeditiously as possible.”
Paragraph (d) applies to a refusal on confidentiality grounds, and it is the most useful of the four. The agency must provide, in writing, notice of that fact and “a citation to the specific statute or other legal authority” that makes the record or part of it confidential.
That last requirement changes the character of a refusal. An agency cannot simply decline; it has to identify the authority it is relying on, which means a requester can see the basis and assess it rather than being left with an unexplained no.
What a Copy Can Cost
Fees are constrained by the statute’s own definition of what may be recovered. NRS 239.005(1) defines “actual cost” as “the direct cost incurred by a governmental entity in the provision of a public record, including, without limitation, the cost of ink, toner, paper, media and postage.”
The items listed are consumables and postage. The definition is framed around what it actually costs to produce the copy.
Where a requester considers a fee excessive or improper, NRS 239.011 provides a route to the district court, which may grant relief “relating to the amount of the fee.” That is a formal step rather than a routine one, but its existence is the reason a fee is not simply whatever an agency says it is.
Where to Send a Request
Every Nevada law enforcement agency handles its own records, and each runs its own channels — online forms, email addresses, mailed forms and counter service, which vary between agencies and change over time.
The practical approach is to go to the records function of the agency that attended, identify the request by date, location and any incident or event number, and keep a record of when the request was made, because the five-business-day clock runs from receipt.
Specific request pages are not listed here, because agency web addresses change and a link that has gone stale is worse than none. The statutory position does not change in the same way, and it applies whichever agency is involved.
Where the fall happened on private property and the document being sought is the property’s own report, a different route applies entirely. The Nevada slip and fall guide covers what a premises claim involves.
Speak to a Nevada Injury Attorney
Records are only part of what a claim rests on, and in a premises case they are frequently the smaller part. What a property holds — its own report, its footage, its maintenance records — is not reached by a public records request at all, and the routes to it are different and time-sensitive.
Vaksman Khalfin, PC acts for injured people across Nevada from the firm’s Las Vegas office at 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150. The first consultation is free, and injury claims are handled on a contingency-fee basis: there is no upfront cost, attorney’s fees are owed only out of a recovery, and fees and case costs are separate items set out in the written agreement. Wider material sits in the Nevada personal injury guides.
Reviewed by Robert B. Vaksman, Partner, Vaksman Khalfin, PC (admitted in Nevada). Last reviewed: 10/30/2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Usually not, where the fall happened inside a business or a residential building. Police are not ordinarily dispatched to such incidents, and the document that exists is typically the property's own internal report rather than a public record.
Any person. NRS 239.010(1) provides that public books and records must be open during office hours "to inspection by any person," subject to the section's exceptions and to confidentiality declared by law.
Until the end of the fifth business day after the person with legal custody or control of the record receives the request, under NRS 239.0107(1).
The response obligation is triggered by "a written or oral request." Making it in writing creates a record of when it was made, which matters because the deadline runs from receipt.
It must provide, in writing, notice of that fact and the name and address of the governmental entity that does have legal custody or control of it, if known.
It must give written notice of that and the earliest date and time it reasonably believes the record will be available, provide a written explanation and a further date if that one passes, and make a reasonable effort to help the requester focus the request.
Not without explaining. Where a request is denied because the record or part of it is confidential, the agency must provide written notice and "a citation to the specific statute or other legal authority" that makes it confidential.
The statute defines "actual cost" as the direct cost incurred in providing the record, "including, without limitation, the cost of ink, toner, paper, media and postage." A requester who considers a fee excessive or improper may apply to the district court for relief relating to the amount.
