Las Vegas Strip casinos try to combat a troubling trend | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Las Vegas may be the “Entertainment Capital of the World,” drawing millions of tourists annually, but it’s also a big city plagued by the big-city problems that affect other metropolises of its size.

The city’s iconic Strip welcomes a near-constant flow of visitors, and concerns have been mounting over the rising criminal activity within the tourism corridors. Both casino owners and law enforcement are hamstrung by the lack of legal tools to fight the problem.

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In recent years, resort workers, security personnel, and tourists have become frequent targets of misdemeanor-level offenses, from trespassing to violent outbursts. While these crimes often don’t make headlines, they have a cumulative impact that threatens both public safety and the economic stability of the region’s tourism-dependent infrastructure.

Protecting this economic engine has become a legislative priority — and it’s given rise to some strange bedfellows (but it is Nevada, after all).

Nevada is one of a handful of states with a part-time legislature, and this week the legislature wrapped up its biennial session with at least one powerful but unexpected coalition in place.

Casino industry leaders and labor unions aligned to seek consequences for repeat offenders in and around Las Vegas’ high-traffic entertainment zones.

The groups’ argument was simple: without enforcement tools that reflect the unique needs of tourist areas, the Strip and its workforce will remain vulnerable. There are more than 280,000 hospitality workers across Nevada, and the state relies on tourism for the majority of its GDP. Lawmakers were facing pressure to act in the interests of the state’s economy while also protecting civil liberties.

The casino groups and labor unions hoped to get measures in place that would allow the enforcement of so-called “order out” laws designed to keep repeat offenders out of the Strip corridor.

The measure was supported by law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

The Las Vegas Strip is a magnet for tourists and criminals.

Image source&colon; Shutterstock

Crime bill aimed to increase penalties for repeat Las Vegas Strip offenders

In an unusual show of unity, the Nevada Resort Association (the trade group that represents the casino owners) and the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 submitted a joint letter urging lawmakers to amend Gov. Joe Lombardo’s Senate Bill 457, as reported in The Nevada Independent.

Their proposal? Reestablish a specialty “corridor court” in Clark County with enhanced powers, including the authority to bar repeat misdemeanor offenders from tourism zones for up to a year.

The move aimed to address a persistent legal gap where individuals — including one man with 700 prior trespassing violations — continue to enter and cause disturbances on resort properties.

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The plea came from a bipartisan group of lawmakers who proposed amendments to SB457 — aka Governor Lombardo’s “Crime Bill” — to reintroduce the corridor court, originally formed in 2023 but later disbanded due to a lack of structure and overwhelming caseloads. Before being elected Governor, Lombardo was the sheriff of Clark County, home to Las Vegas.

The corridor court had handled all criminal cases committed on the Strip but failed to gain traction due to unclear guidelines and procedural inefficiencies.

Part-time lawmakers including Sen. Melanie Scheible (D-Las Vegas), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a criminal defense attorney in Las Vegas, had the opportunity to include order-out provisions in the crime bill, but refused to make an amended version of the bill available to the Assembly until the waning hours of the 2025 session.

The assembly held a hearing on the bill and quickly passed it, but the bill ultimately died in the Senate before it could get to the governor’s desk.

In a bizarre ending to an otherwise uneventful session, instead of working to get the crime bill delivered to the governor’s desk, the senate democrats focused their final-hour efforts on pushing for democratic control over the interim committees that will operate between now and when the next legislature convenes in February 2027.

Safeguarding the Strip, Nevada’s most important economic powerhouse

One of the goals of the crime bill was to empower law enforcement to bar convicted offenders from the Strip and impose harsher penalties for crimes against hospitality workers.

The Resort Association and Culinary Union backed an even sharper provision — having judicial discretion to order repeat offenders out of the corridor for up to a year.

Their letter to Gov. Lombardo cited alarming cases, including the man who trespassed on casino grounds hundreds of times and another who physically assaulted a hotel security guard after multiple warnings.

“There are just too many incidents like this to list,” the letter read, highlighting the danger posed to both guests and employees.

Tourism in Nevada isn’t just a job creator; it’s the backbone of the entire state’s financial health.

For the hospitality industry and labor leaders to speak with one voice sends a clear signal: safety isn’t optional if Las Vegas wants to maintain its global appeal.

Still, questions remain about how such a policy would be enforced without overburdening the courts or infringing on due process. Democratic senators voiced concerns related to civil liberties around banning individuals from public spaces, even with exemptions for work, religious, or legal obligations.

As of today, there are 402 individuals barred from the Strip, down from more than 2,500 last July when the corridor court was in place.

The 83rd legislative session ended in the early morning hours of June 3 without a vote on SB457, but this likely is not the end of the joint effort to keep The Strip safe for residents and visitors alike.