1. The board of county commissioners of any county and the governing body of any city or cities located in the county may merge their respective law enforcement agencies into one metropolitan police department. To do so, the board of county commissioners of the participating county and the governing body of each participating city must each adopt an ordinance providing for the merger. Except with respect to an ordinance providing for the reorganization of an existing department pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, any ordinance providing for a merger must be adopted and become effective on or before November 30 in the year preceding the commencement of the fiscal year in which the merger is to occur.

2. If the act or charter under which a participating city is organized provides for the appointment of a chief of police and his or her duties of law enforcement and the governing body of the city adopts an ordinance for the merger authorized by this section:

(a) The charter provision for appointment of a chief of police shall be deemed superseded as long as the ordinance providing for a merger of the police department of the participating city remains in effect.

(b) The duties of law enforcement vested in the law enforcement agencies designated in the merger, devolve upon the metropolitan police department, except the duty to construct, maintain or operate any county or city jail or detention facility.

3. Any nonparticipating city may, by adopting an ordinance providing for a merger, merge its law enforcement agency into an existing metropolitan police department with the unanimous consent of the committee and subject to such rules and regulations as the committee may adopt which are consistent with the provisions of this chapter.

(Added to NRS by 1973, 916; A 1981, 635; 1989, 1180; 1993, 2515; 2001, 1658)