Sawyer v. First Judicial District Court

OPINION

Petitioner, the governor of Nevada, seeks a writ of prohibition to bar the First Judicial District Court from impaneling a state grand jury pursuant to NRS 6.135. Said statute initially was invoked by the lieutenant governor.

The facts are not in dispute. Prior to November 28, 1965, a controversy erupted as to conduct of the Nevada State Department of Highways. In public statements, the lieutenant governor suggested that a state grand jury be impaneled to investigate the highway department. Authority to call such a grand jury is derived from NRS 6.135, which confines that authority to…