1. Except as limited by subsections 2, 3 and 4, an attorney, other than a public defender, who is appointed by a magistrate or a district court to represent or defend a defendant at any stage of the criminal proceedings from the defendant’s initial appearance before the magistrate or the district court through the appeal, if any, is entitled to receive a fee for court appearances and other time reasonably spent on the matter to which the appointment is made of $125 per hour in cases in which the death penalty is sought and $100 per hour in all other cases. Except for cases in which the most serious crime is a felony punishable by death or by imprisonment for life with or without possibility of parole, this subsection does not preclude a governmental entity from contracting with a private attorney who agrees to provide such services for a lesser rate of compensation.

2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, the total fee for each attorney in any matter regardless of the number of offenses charged or ancillary matters pursued must not exceed:

(a) If the most serious crime is a felony punishable by death or by imprisonment for life with or without possibility of parole, $20,000;

(b) If the most serious crime is a felony other than a felony included in paragraph (a) or is a gross misdemeanor, $2,500;

(c) If the most serious crime is a misdemeanor, $750;

(d) For an appeal of one or more misdemeanor convictions, $750; or

(e) For an appeal of one or more gross misdemeanor or felony convictions, $2,500.

3. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, an attorney appointed by a district court to represent an indigent petitioner for a writ of habeas corpus or other postconviction relief, if the petitioner is imprisoned pursuant to a judgment of conviction of a gross misdemeanor or felony, is entitled to be paid a fee not to exceed $750.

4. If the appointing court because of:

(a) The complexity of a case or the number of its factual or legal issues;

(b) The severity of the offense;

(c) The time necessary to provide an adequate defense; or

(d) Other special circumstances,

deems it appropriate to grant a fee in excess of the applicable maximum, the payment must be made, but only if the court in which the representation was rendered certifies that the amount of the excess payment is both reasonable and necessary and the payment is approved by the presiding judge of the judicial district in which the attorney was appointed, or if there is no such presiding judge or if he or she presided over the court in which the representation was rendered, then by the district judge who holds seniority in years of service in office.

5. The magistrate, the district court, the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court may, in the interests of justice, substitute one appointed attorney for another at any stage of the proceedings, but the total amount of fees granted to all appointed attorneys must not exceed those allowable if but one attorney represented or defended the defendant at all stages of the criminal proceeding.

[1:86:1875; A 1911, 318; 1945, 103; 1943 NCL § 11357] + [2:86:1875; BH § 2421; C § 2456; RL § 7541; NCL § 11358] — (NRS A 1963, 510; 1964, 8; 1965, 598; 1967, 1468; 1969, 478; 1973, 168; 1975, 1153; 1977, 419, 875; 1981, 874; 1983, 109, 1095; 1985, 1023, 1024; 1987, 1295; 1991, 2077; 1993, 2465; 2003, 442; 2013, 1731)