‘That's it?' Proposals to toughen Nevada's DUI laws stall as families question minimum 2-year penalty
Senate Bill 304 would amend the state's vehicular homicide law to kick in after a person's first DUI conviction should they then drive impaired and kill someone — right now, it's three strikes and you're out. A second proposal, Senate Bill 457, which is part of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo's crime bill, would charge DUI drivers who kill with second-degree murder.
Nevada prosecutors, including the Clark County District Attorney's Office, have tried to charge DUI drivers who kill a person and who speed and who drive with no care for another person's life, with murder, but the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled the DUI with death law is more appropriate.
Nevada's DUI-with-death law carries a potential prison sentence of 2-20 years. However, a bipartisan 1995 law requires a judge to sentence a person to a minimum and maximum sentence, meaning in cases of DUI with death, the maximum amount of time a defendant will spend in prison without a parole hearing is eight years.
'How do you explain to a 9-year-old that the person they look up to and admire so much in life is only worth two years?' Kayla Padgett asked. Padgett's longtime boyfriend, Joshua Yokley, 43, died in April after police said a suspected DUI driver crashed into him. Yokley was riding a motorcycle on Lone Mountain Road near Rainbow Boulevard when Edward Dukes, 28, drove out of a Sante Fe Station parking lot and collided with the bike, police said.
Dukes told police he had 'a few drinks inside' the casino before the crash, documents said.
'A very mischievous man with a very intimidating size who had a heart of gold,' Padgett said of Yokley. 'He was taken to the hospital, where they tried to save him for about three hours.'
Padgett and Yokley's longtime friend, Mike Bracke, said the minimum two-year penalty is laughable.
'Why should we have to pay that burden of knowing that that person could literally go to jail for two years, and that's it?' Padgett said.
'How many families have to suffer before lawmakers finally pull their heads out of the sand and are like, 'Hm, something has to give,'' Bracke said.
Nevada's vehicular homicide law, which Senate Bill 304 would amend, carries a potential prison sentence of up to 25 years. Its sponsor, Republican State Sen. Jeff Stone, previously said he wanted a minimum penalty of up to 30 years. However, lawmakers amended the bill to change the possible penalty to 2-20 years, the same as the current DUI-with-death law.
'You can't make that make sense to me,' Padgett said.
As of Wednesday, Senate Bill 304 was stuck in a finance committee because the Nevada Department of Corrections estimates it will add more than $2 million to its budget due to the additional time offenders could serve in custody.
The governor's proposal had yet to have a hearing, and there were no hearings scheduled for it as of Wednesday.
The legislative session ends June 2. Lawmakers will not reconvene, except for special circumstances at the request of the governor, until February 2027.
'There is no conscionable reason for you to take physical control of an automobile while you are inebriated,' Bracke stressed.
Yokley was an organ donor, Padgett and Bracke said.
A spokesperson for Senate Democrats, who control that legislative body, said both proposals remain under consideration.
'Both of these measures remain under consideration, as we assess both the policy and the fiscal impact in light of the state's reduced budget situation,' a spokesperson for the caucus said. 'We're fully committed to passing strong public safety measures this session and both will be given fair consideration.'
Representatives for Assembly Democrats, who also control that chamber, and for Lombardo did not return requests for comment.
During Dukes' probable cause hearing on April 8, Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Suzan Baucum set bail at $250,000, records said. Dukes posted bond, and Baucum ordered him not to drive and to wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet.
A preliminary hearing in justice court was scheduled for May 22.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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