Law and government in Las Vegas

The Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse in Las Vegas is the first Federal Building built to the post-Oklahoma City blast resistant standards.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department provides most law enforcement services in the city and surrounding county. Exceptions include cities with their own law enforcement agency; including North Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City.

Most of the people and businesses who call Las Vegas home actually live in neighboring unincorporated communities that have no city government or in other nearby cities, some of which are listed below. In fact, of the nearly 1.6 million people who live in the Las Vegas valley, only 575,973 live inside Las Vegas city limits. The largest of these towns are Paradise (188,768) between Las Vegas and Henderson(224,829), Sunrise Manor (184,801) east of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, and Spring Valley (161,286) southwest of Las Vegas. These towns formed during a 1940s water dispute between the City of Las Vegas and early homeowners south of San Francisco Street, now Sahara Avenue. Residents of these towns cannot vote for the Mayor and City Council of Las Vegas, but they can vote for members of the Clark County Commission, which governs their areas. They are also represented by advisory boards, which are appointed by and give nonbinding suggestions to the Clark County Commission.

The City of Las Vegas government operates as a council-manager government. The Mayor sits as a Councilmember-At-Large and presides over all of the City Council meetings. In the event that the Mayor cannot preside over a City Council meeting the Mayor Pro-Tem is the presiding body of the meeting until such time as the Mayor returns to his seat. The City Manager is responsible for the administration and the day to day operation of all of the municipal services and city departments. The City Manager also maintains an intergovernmental relationships with federal, state, county and other local governments.

A Paiute Indian reservation occupies about 1 acre (4,000 m²) in the downtown area of Las Vegas.

City council

(Councilmembers’ official city websites are also available)

Oscar B. Goodman – Mayor and Councilmember at Large (Term Expires in 2007)
Gary Reese – Mayor Pro-Tem and 3rd Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2007)
Lois Tarkanian – 1st Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2007)¹
Steve Wolfson, Esq – 2nd Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2009)
Larry Brown – 4th Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2009)
Lawrence Weekly – 5th Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2007)
Steve Ross – 6th Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2009)

¹ Elected on January 26, 2005 in a special election to replace Councilwoman Janet Moncrief when recalled from office. Lois Tarkanian will serve the remaining two years of the Ward 1 seat.