Nevada Revised Statutes 37.120 – Assessment of compensation and damages: Date of valuation; exception; just compensation
1. To assess compensation and damages as provided in NRS 37.110, the date of the first service of the summons is the date of valuation, except that, if the action is not tried within 2 years after the date of the first service of the summons, and the court makes a written finding that the delay is caused primarily by the plaintiff or is caused by congestion or backlog in the calendar of the court, the date of valuation is the date of the actual commencement of the trial. If a new trial is ordered by a court, the date of valuation used in the new trial must be the date of valuation used in the original trial.
Terms Used In Nevada Revised Statutes 37.120
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Date of valuation: means the date on which the value of the property actually taken, and the damages, if any, to the remaining property, must be determined. See Nevada Revised Statutes 37.009
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
- Value: means the highest price, on the date of valuation, that would be agreed to by a seller, who is willing to sell on the open market and has reasonable time to find a purchaser, and a buyer, who is ready, willing and able to buy, if both the seller and the buyer had full knowledge of all the uses and purposes for which the property is reasonably adaptable and available. See Nevada Revised Statutes 37.009
2. No improvements put upon the property after the date of the service of the summons may be included in the assessment of compensation or damages, regardless of the date of valuation.
3. In all actions in eminent domain, the court shall award just compensation to the owner of the property that is being taken. Just compensation is that sum of money necessary to place the property owner in the same position monetarily as if the property had never been taken, excluding any governmental offsets except special benefits. Special benefits may only offset severance damages and may not offset the value for the property. Just compensation for the property taken by the exercise of eminent domain must include, without limitation, interest computed pursuant to NRS 37.175 and reasonable costs and expenses, except attorney’s fees, incurred by the owner of the property that is the subject of the action.
4. As used in this section, ‘primarily’ means the greater amount, quantity or quality of acts of the plaintiff or the defendant or, if there is more than one defendant, the total delay caused by all the defendants, that would cause the date of the trial to be continued past 2 years after the date of the first service of the summons.