Nevada Youth Legislature: Who Can Serve and How to Apply

The Nevada Youth Legislature is a 21-member advisory body of high school students, created under NRS Chapter 219A, with one seat for each of the state’s senatorial districts. Members are appointed by the sitting state Senator for that district, not elected, and they serve two-year terms that begin June 1 of each odd-numbered year.¹

Who Can Serve

Each of the 21 seats is tied to a specific senatorial district, and you have to connect to that district in one of three ways: live in it and attend a public or private school located there, live in it and attend a public or private school located there, or be homeschooled while otherwise eligible to enroll in a public school in that district.¹

Grade matters too. You must be entering 9th, 10th, or 11th grade during the first school year of the term. A rising senior cannot start a new appointment, though a member first appointed as a junior finishes the term during senior year. Members who still meet every requirement can be reappointed to one additional two-year term.²

If you move, change schools, or otherwise lose eligibility during your term, you have to notify the Board of Directors in writing within 30 days of learning about the change.¹

How You Get Appointed

Under NRS 219A.130, your state Senator picks the youth legislator for your district. Assembly members from the area may send the Senator recommendations, but the final choice belongs to the Senator.²

Appointments have to be made before April 30 of each odd-numbered year, with terms starting June 1. If the Senator misses the April 30 deadline, the Assembly members whose districts overlap the senatorial district have to work together and make the appointment instead.²

Mid-term vacancies caused by resignation, death, or loss of eligibility are handled separately under NRS 219A.150.¹

How to Apply

Since the Senator makes the appointment, your path onto the body starts with figuring out which senatorial district you live in and getting your application in front of that Senator. The Nevada Legislature’s website and the Youth Legislature program page both provide district lookup resources, and application materials have historically been handled through the Legislative Counsel Bureau’s Research Division, which administers the program.

The statute pins down the residency, enrollment, and grade requirements. Everything else about the application packet — essays, references, interviews, exact deadlines inside the appointment window — is set by program administration and can shift between cycles. Check the official Nevada Youth Legislature page for the current form and timing, keeping in mind that the next appointment cycle lines up with the next odd-numbered year.³

What Members Actually Do

The body has to hold at least two public meetings in Nevada each school year, with teleconference or videoconference locations allowed around the state, and it has to run a public awareness campaign aimed at young Nevadans.¹

Members evaluate and comment on issues that matter to young people, which the statute defines broadly:

Education and safe learning environments
Employment opportunities for youth
Youth participation in state and local government
Substance use prevention and emotional and physical well-being
Foster care and access to state and local services
Environmental, legal, political, or social issues

During regular legislative sessions, and when funding allows, the Youth Legislature can meet as often as needed to advise lawmakers on pending bills affecting youth. Individual members also complete whatever activities the Board of Directors assigns them.¹

Proposing a Bill

Under NRS 219A.220, the Youth Legislature may request the drafting of up to one legislative measure per term on a subject within its scope. The request has to reach the Legislative Counsel by December 1 before the next regular session, unless the Legislative Commission grants an extension.¹

These bills get introduced. In the 2025 session, two measures tied to the Youth Legislature moved forward: Senate Bill 254 and Assembly Bill 167.³

Officers and the Annual Report

Members elect a Chair and a Vice Chair from their own ranks. The Chair runs meetings and works with the Board to form committees; the Vice Chair fills in when the Chair is unavailable. Both serve one-year terms starting June 1.¹

Public meetings of the Youth Legislature and its committees follow the same general policies the full Nevada Legislature uses for its public meetings, to the extent practicable. Internal sessions held purely for orientation, training, or organizational purposes are exempt from those rules.¹

By May 30 each year, the body files a written report with the Board of Directors and the Governor covering the past school year’s activities and any legislative recommendations. The Board forwards that report to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education and to the next regular session of the Legislature, which puts members’ work in front of the people who write state education policy.¹

1
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 219A – Nevada Youth Legislature
2
Nevada.Public.Law. Nevada Code 219A.130 – Creation
3
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Youth Legislature