Transportation shapes access to jobs, healthcare, education, and opportunity.
Whether it is road safety, public transit, walkability, or infrastructure investment, transportation policy impacts daily life across urban and rural Nevada.
As Nevada grows, communities are asking how transportation systems can better serve workers, seniors, students, and families.
LEAN into 2026 by learning how transportation decisions affect our neighborhoods and economy.
Not every important local public official is elected. Mayors, city councils, county commissioners, school boards, and other elected bodies often appoint leaders who oversee the daily work of government and deliver essential services.
City Manager or County Manager
A city or county manager is the chief administrator of local government. They carry out the policies and budgets approved by elected officials, supervise departments and staff, manage public services, prepare budgets, and respond to emergencies. While residents do not vote directly for a manager, they elect the officials who hire, evaluate, and can remove that person.
City Attorney or County Counsel
In many Nevada communities, the city or county attorney is appointed rather than elected. This office provides legal advice to local government, represents the jurisdiction in legal matters, drafts ordinances and contracts, and may prosecute local ordinance violations. In some cities, including Reno, the City Attorney is elected.
City Clerk or County Clerk
Clerks preserve public records, prepare meeting agendas and minutes, administer elections in some jurisdictions, issue licenses, maintain official documents, and help ensure that local government actions are open and accessible to the public.
Public Defender
Public defenders represent people who cannot afford an attorney in criminal cases. Their work is essential to the constitutional right to legal counsel and to a justice system that is fair, effective, and accountable.
Planning and Zoning Commissioners
Planning commissions are usually appointed by city councils or county commissions. They review proposed developments, zoning changes, housing plans, and land-use policies, then make recommendations or decisions depending on the community. Their work can shape affordability, neighborhood character, transportation, environmental health, and how a community grows.
Library, Parks, Transit, Hospital, and Utility Boards
Many local services are guided by appointed boards and commissions. These bodies may oversee libraries, parks, public transit, hospitals, water systems, utilities, airports, and other community resources. Their decisions affect access, rates, facilities, services, and long-term public investment.
A mayor is often the most visible local elected official and can play an important role in setting a city’s direction. The mayor represents the community, leads council meetings, works with other local and state leaders, makes appointments to boards and commissions, and may have specific responsibilities during emergencies.
In many Nevada cities, the mayor works within a council-manager form of government. The mayor and city council set policy, adopt budgets, and establish community priorities; the city manager handles day-to-day administration. That does not make the mayor ceremonial. A mayor can use public leadership to build consensus, elevate community concerns, shape appointments, guide major policy conversations, and hold the city’s administration accountable.
The authority of each mayor depends on the city charter. But every mayor helps communicate whose voices are heard, what challenges receive attention, and what kind of community a city seeks to become.
County commissioners adopt ordinances, approve county budgets, oversee county services, and make land-use decisions—especially in unincorporated communities. Their decisions can affect housing, public health, human services, roads, fire protection, parks, libraries, homelessness services, and long-term growth.
In Nevada, Carson City is structured differently because it is a consolidated city and county. Its mayor and four supervisors form the Board of Supervisors, which carries many of the responsibilities performed elsewhere by city councils and county commissions.
The County Assessor identifies and values taxable property. Those assessments help determine property-tax bills and can affect homeowners, renters, businesses, and funding for public services. The Assessor does not set tax rates or collect taxes, but fair and accurate assessments matter.
These may be separate or combined offices, depending on the county. County clerks issue marriage licenses, maintain public records, and may help administer elections or preserve the official actions of county government. Recorders maintain deeds, liens, property transfers, mining claims, and other documents that establish ownership and protect legal rights.
The Sheriff oversees major county law-enforcement responsibilities. Depending on the county, those may include patrols in unincorporated areas, operation of the county jail, court security, civil-process service, criminal investigations, search and rescue, and concealed-carry permits. The Sheriff’s leadership influences policing practices, detention conditions, accountability, and relationships between law enforcement and the community.
The County Treasurer collects real-property taxes, safeguards and invests county funds, distributes revenue, and handles delinquent property-tax accounts. This office helps ensure that public money is managed responsibly and remains available for essential community services.
The District Attorney is the county’s public prosecutor and legal representative. The office prosecutes criminal cases, represents county government in civil matters, supports victims and witnesses, and may help enforce child-support obligations. Decisions about charging, diversion, prosecution priorities, and the use of public resources can have significant consequences for public safety, accountability, and justice.
The Public Administrator manages certain estates when someone dies without an available or willing person to handle their affairs. Although this office is less involved in making public policy, it carries significant responsibility for protecting property, administering estates, and serving vulnerable families.
Faithful civic engagement means more than voting at the top of the ballot. It means learning about every office, researching the candidates, asking how they will use their authority, and voting the entire ballot.
Your ballot does more than choose elected officials in Washington and Carson City. It also helps decide who governs Nevada’s public colleges and universities.
The Nevada Board of Regents sets policy and approves budgets for the Nevada System of Higher Education: UNR, UNLV, Nevada State University, four community colleges, and the Desert Research Institute. That system serves more than 100,000 students and shapes whether higher education is accessible, affordable, and responsive to Nevada’s workforce and communities.
Regents are elected in nonpartisan races, yet their decisions have very real consequences: tuition and fees, campus safety, student services, faculty and staff working conditions, research, and the future of community colleges.
In 2026, voters in five regent districts will choose representatives. The Board currently has 13 members; legislation passed in 2023 will reduce it to nine members beginning January 2, 2029, following the 2028 elections.
These may be down-ballot races, but they are not small decisions. Nevada’s students, families, educators, and communities deserve Regents who see public higher education as a public good—not simply a line item.
Know your district. Learn about the candidates. Vote the whole ballot.
Mayor
A mayor’s authority varies by city charter. Mayors generally help set a city’s direction, lead council meetings, represent the community, make appointments, and respond during emergencies. In council-manager cities, the mayor and city council establish policy while a professional city manager oversees daily operations.
City Council Members
City councils adopt local ordinances, approve budgets, establish priorities, and make decisions about housing, zoning, development, public safety, streets, parks, utilities, homelessness, and other city services. Their votes help determine what gets built, what receives funding, and whose needs are prioritized.
District Courts are trial courts of general jurisdiction, meaning they hear criminal, civil, family, and juvenile cases. The Family Court helps people with divorce, annulment, child custody, visitation rights, child support, spousal support, community property division, name changes, adoption, and abuse and neglect.
Municipal Courts handle cases involving civil infractions within specific city limits. These courts are funded by their respective cities and most of the funds collected by the municipal courts go into the municipalities general fund.
Justices of the Peace hear misdemeanor and traffic cases, evictions, small claims, protective-order requests, and certain civil disputes. They also handle initial proceedings in felony and gross-misdemeanor cases, including arraignments and preliminary hearings. Their decisions can directly affect a person’s housing, freedom, finances, safety, and access to justice.
School board trustees govern Nevada’s local school districts. They establish district policies and priorities, approve budgets, hire and evaluate the superintendent, oversee student achievement, and make decisions about instructional materials, school safety, transportation, attendance zones, facilities, and employee agreements. Their decisions affect students, families, educators, and some of the largest public budgets in our
Some Nevada communities elect trustees to General Improvement Districts. Depending on the district, these boards may oversee water, sewer, sanitation, recreation, parks, utilities, or fire protection. They can approve budgets, set rates and fees, issue debt, and make infrastructure decisions that directly affect residents.
In counties with public hospitals or hospital districts, trustees may be elected to oversee hospital operations, budgets, facilities, leadership, and access to health care. These positions are especially important in rural communities, where the local hospital may be the region’s primary health-care provider.
Conservation district supervisors help guide local work involving soil health, water conservation, wildfire resilience, invasive species, agricultural lands, and natural-resource stewardship. Nevada conservation districts are governed by elected supervisors together with appointed members.
Constables are elected in some Nevada townships and help execute court orders and civil processes, including evictions, property seizures, and service of legal documents. Their duties vary by jurisdiction, but their work can directly affect housing stability and access to justice.
Faithful civic engagement means more than voting at the top of the ballot. It means learning about every office, researching the candidates, asking how they will use their authority, and voting the entire ballot.
In some Nevada cities, the City Attorney is elected. This office serves as the city’s chief legal counsel, advises the mayor, council, and city departments, represents the city in legal matters, and may prosecute violations of city ordinances. In Reno, for example, City Attorney is an elected office.
In unincorporated Nevada communities, voters may elect town board members. These boards advise or work with county commissioners on local services, community facilities, land use, and neighborhood priorities. Their authority varies by county and town.
In agricultural communities, voters may elect directors for irrigation districts, including the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District. These boards oversee water delivery, infrastructure, assessments, and policies affecting farms, ranches, and local water users.
Some communities elect boards for water, sewer, sanitation, or other infrastructure districts that are not labeled General Improvement Districts. These positions can affect water rates, service reliability, infrastructure investments, and long-term growth. Nevada law also provides for elected local improvement district directors.
