Felony vs. Misdemeanor in Nevada

Nevada divides crimes into three tiers. A misdemeanor — under NRS 193.150 — carries up to 6 months in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000, with courts able to substitute community service; most traffic-adjacent offenses, first-time petty theft, simple battery, and first and second DUI live here. A gross misdemeanor — NRS 193.140 — is Nevada’s in-between tier: up to 364 days in county jail and up to $2,000. And felonies, under NRS 193.130, are punished in state prison and divided into five categories, A through E, which the table below breaks down.

The tier controls more than punishment. Misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors are resolved entirely in justice or municipal court; felonies move to the Eighth Judicial District Court through a preliminary hearing. And the tier drives the aftermath — from firearm rights to how long you wait before the record can be sealed.

The gross misdemeanor confuses more people than any other level — it is not a felony, but it is far more than a traffic ticket. The 364-day maximum is deliberate: staying one day under a year keeps the offense out of felony territory for many collateral purposes, including certain immigration consequences. Common gross misdemeanors include open and gross lewdness (first offense), assault on a protected person, and many first-offense charges negotiated down from category E or D felonies. That last point matters most: the gross misdemeanor is where good felony defense often lands a case — same facts, dramatically different future.

The sentence is only the visible cost. A felony conviction — any category — ends firearm rights, threatens professional and gaming licenses, complicates housing and employment screening, and for non-citizens can trigger immigration consequences up to removal. Gross misdemeanors carry lighter but real collateral weight, and even misdemeanors show on background checks until sealed. In a licensing town like Las Vegas, the practical difference between a category E felony and a gross misdemeanor can be a career — which is why charge-level negotiation is often the most valuable work in a case, worth more than the difference in jail exposure suggests.

One collateral consequence deserves its own warning: firearm rights lost to a felony conviction are not restored by record sealing — in Nevada that generally requires a pardon. If gun ownership matters to you, the time to protect it is before conviction, at the charge-level stage, not years later at the sealing stage.

Nevada charge levels are more movable than defendants assume. Some statutes let a court reduce a category E felony to a gross misdemeanor or misdemeanor at sentencing or after probation; prosecutors routinely negotiate levels as part of resolution; and diversion or specialty-court outcomes can convert what was charged as a felony into a misdemeanor judgment — Nevada’s felony DUI treatment program is built exactly that way. The charge on the arrest paperwork is the State’s opening position, not the final classification. What the conviction ultimately says is the thing worth fighting about, because every consequence on this page keys off it.

People hire lawyers for felonies and talk themselves out of it for misdemeanors — and both instincts miss how Nevada actually works. Felony cases are where De Castroverde Law Group’s trial team fights classification, negotiates levels, and protects everything the table above puts at risk. But misdemeanors deserve defense too: they carry jail exposure, immigration risk, and years of background-check visibility, and they are frequently winnable. Our Las Vegas criminal defense attorney team handles every rung of the ladder, in English and Spanish, and the consultation that tells you what you’re really facing is free.