1. A resident of Nevada is eligible to have the public guardian of the county in which he or she resides appointed as his or her temporary individual guardian pursuant to NRS 159.0523 or 159.0525 or to mitigate the risk of financial harm to a proposed protected minor pursuant to NRS 159A.053.

2. An adult resident of Nevada is eligible to have the public guardian of a county appointed as his or her permanent or general individual guardian if the proposed protected person is a resident of that county and:

(a) The proposed protected person has no nominated person, relative or friend suitable and willing to serve as his or her guardian; or

(b) The proposed protected person has a guardian who the court determines must be removed pursuant to NRS 159.185.

3. A person qualified pursuant to subsection 1 or 2, or anyone on his or her behalf, may petition the district court of the county in which he or she resides to make the appointment.

4. Before a petition for the appointment of the public guardian as a guardian may be filed pursuant to subsection 3, a copy of the petition and copies of all accompanying documents to be filed must be delivered to the public guardian or a deputy public guardian.

5. Any petition for the appointment of the public guardian as a guardian filed pursuant to subsection 3 must include a statement signed by the public guardian or deputy public guardian and in substantially the following form:

The undersigned is the Public Guardian or a Deputy Public Guardian of ............. County. The undersigned certifies that he or she has received a copy of this petition and all accompanying documents to be filed with the court.

6. A petition for the appointment of the public guardian as permanent or general guardian must be filed separately from a petition for the appointment of a temporary guardian.

7. If a person other than the public guardian served as temporary guardian before the appointment of the public guardian as permanent or general guardian, the temporary guardian must file an accounting and report with the court in which the petition for the appointment of a public guardian was filed within 30 days of the appointment of the public guardian as permanent or general guardian.

8. In addition to NRS 159.099 and 159A.099, a county is not liable on any written or oral contract entered into by the public guardian of the county for or on behalf of a protected person.

9. For the purposes of this section:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), the county of residence of a person is the county to which the person moved with the intent to reside for an indefinite period.

(b) The county of residence of a person placed in institutional care is the county that was the county of residence of the person before the person was placed in institutional care by a guardian or agency or under power of attorney.

10. As used in this section, “nominated person” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 159.0613.

(Added to NRS by 1977, 487; A 1999, 920; 2007, 2490; 2009, 2272; 2015, 2510; 2017, 893)