City of Las Vegas class action lawsuit filed over City Marshal jurisdiction

The City is being sued in a class action lawsuit for allegedly arresting thousands of people outside of their jurisdiction.

LAS VEGAS, NV, UNITED STATES, March 29, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Nevada civil rights attorney Adam J. Breeden filed a federal civil rights class action lawsuit on Thursday in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada against the City of Las Vegas and two city marshals, Jason Brooks and Sergio Guzman. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of plaintiff Derek Myers and potentially thousands of other class members, alleges that the city marshals have exceeded their territorial jurisdiction under state law, resulting in unauthorized traffic stops, searches, and arrests.

According to the complaint, on January 9, 2025, Myers was driving on I-11/US Route 95 in Clark County when Brooks and Guzman stopped him for alleged traffic violations, searched his vehicle and person without consent or a warrant, and held him in custody for 17 hours. Myers denies any criminal activity, and no criminal charges have been filed against him to date.

"Under the Nevada Revised Statutes, these are not officers — that is, the city marshals — that have unlimited statewide jurisdiction," Breeden said. "They're limited only to city property such as parks or city buildings. They should not be out there on the highway stopping people for traffic infractions."

The lawsuit defines the proposed class as all persons who, within two years of the filing of the complaint, have been detained, searched, arrested, or punished by fine or incarceration due to actions by city marshals beyond their lawful jurisdictional territory, which is limited to City-owned or managed property such as city parks and buildings.

The complaint further alleges that the City of Las Vegas has a policy, practice, or custom of allowing city marshals to operate outside their limited territorial jurisdiction. This claim is supported by a 2023 Nevada Supreme Court brief filed by the City, which stated that its Department of Safety, overseeing the city marshals, "is a limited jurisdiction agency whose duties are necessarily limited to protection of City property and operation of the City jail."

"We want people to be safe, and we want the law to be enforced — but the problem is these city marshals are not trained properly and equipped properly to do the job that they're doing," Breeden stated. "What they're doing is subjecting the City of Las Vegas and the marshals' office to liability for claims for false imprisonment and false arrest."

The lawsuit seeks over $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages, an injunction to prevent the city marshals from operating beyond their jurisdiction, and class certification for potentially more than 1,000 affected individuals. The claims include federal civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Nevada constitutional torts, battery, false imprisonment, and a request for a declaratory judgment to restrict the marshals to their legal boundaries.

The case is filed under United States Federal Court, District of Nevada, Case 2:25-cv-00562.

Adam J. Breeden, Esq.
Breeden and Associates, PLLC
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Interview with Attorney Adam J. Breeden