Carson Now policy on naming individuals in arrest reports

Effective June 9, 2025

Under Nevada state law, arrest records are public documents. This means all arrest reports, regardless of the crime, are legally accessible and can be published without redactions.

While unredacted publication is legal, news organizations, including ours, have historically adopted editorial guidelines to ensure that reporting of arrest information is handled with discretion and fairness.

From June 9, 2025 forward, our naming policies for our arrest reports are as follows: 

Naming guidelines

We will publish names in the following circumstances:

  • Felonies (excluding possession-only drug charges)
    We will name individuals arrested for felonies, except when the sole charge is for drug possession. 
  • Violent Gross Misdemeanors
    If a gross misdemeanor arrest involves a violent offense and includes an identifiable victim—such as assault, domestic violence or sex crimes—we will name the individual arrested.

We will not publish names in the following circumstances:

  • Misdemeanors
    We will not name individuals arrested for misdemeanors.
  • Non-violent Gross Misdemeanors
    We will not name individuals arrested for gross misdemeanors that do not include a violent offense.
  • Felony drug possession (possession only)
    We will not name individuals arrested solely for felony drug possession, provided the subject is not accused of trafficking, distribution or other offenses that entail public safety concerns.

Victim privacy and discretion

We are committed to protecting the privacy of victims in all cases, particularly those involving violent or sensitive crimes. We strive to write reports in ways that do not reveal the relationship between the victim and the accused.

In especially sensitive cases such as incest, we reserve the right not to name the individual arrested for the safety of the victim if naming them would make identifying the victim unavoidable. As an alternative, we may also describe the charge in general but factually accurate terms (for example, instead of incest  we might use “a sexual assault charge”) rather than providing specifics to protect victim identity. 

We evaluate each case individually, guided by the principles of responsible reporting and minimizing harm.

Additional considerations

  • Public interest and public figures: We may choose to name individuals outside of this policy in cases involving exceptional public interest or when the person is a public figure.
  • Requests for removal or updates: We will review requests to update or remove arrest reports on a case-by-case basis. All court documents must be submitted at the time of the formal request. 
  • Effective date: This naming policy only pertains to reports published after the effective date of the policy. Reports posted prior to the effective date are not subject to this policy. 
  • Policy review: This policy will be reviewed periodically to ensure it remains consistent with legal standards, journalistic best practices and evolving community expectations.

While the goal of publishing this policy is to be transparent to our readers regarding our editorial choices, we reserve the right to make decisions on arrest report publications on a case-by-case basis. 

Commitment to fairness

This policy reflects our commitment to ethical journalism, accountability and fairness. Our goal is to serve the public interest while minimizing unnecessary harm to individuals named in arrest reports.

For questions or concerns about this policy, contact Carson Now’s Publisher Kirk Caraway at kc@carsonnow.org.