North Las Vegas Criminal Defense & DUI Attorneys
Arrested or charged in North Las Vegas? Our team protects North Las Vegas residents with aggressive, proven legal defense across North Las Vegas Justice Court and North Las Vegas Municipal Court and Clark County District Court.
Zero of our clients have ever pled guilty to what they were originally charged with.

🚨 Booked at North Las Vegas Detention Center? Call us before the next court appearance.
We can be on the file within hours — investigating the stop, preserving evidence, contacting the prosecutor, and making sure your story gets told before the State's version becomes the default.
Criminal Defense in North Las Vegas, NV
North Las Vegas has its own Justice Court and Municipal Court with their own prosecutors, their own bail schedules, and their own playbook. A defense lawyer who treats every Clark County courtroom the same gets steamrolled. We don't. We represent NLV residents and visitors against DUI, drug possession and trafficking, domestic battery, assault, theft, fraud, and weapons charges.
We represent clients across Aliante, Eldorado, Cheyenne, and Las Vegas Blvd North. Most of our North Las Vegas cases originate from stops or incidents on I-15, US-95, Craig Rd, and Cheyenne Ave.
“I stand behind every case we take. Your freedom is my mission.”
Every charge we defend in North Las Vegas
Below is every practice area we handle out of North Las Vegas — with the local court routing, the typical defense playbook, and a link to the full charge-specific page. Call (702) 857-7197 day or night.
DUI / DWI Defense in North Las Vegas
If you've been arrested for DUI in North Las Vegas, your case files in North Las Vegas Justice Court. Patrol density on I-15 and US-95 makes traffic-stop DUIs routine — and that means stop-legality and field-sobriety challenges are usually the strongest opening defense.
North Las Vegas DUI cases turn on three pressure points: was the traffic stop lawful, was the breathalyzer or blood test administered correctly, and was the 7-day DMV-hearing window protected. We file the DMV hearing request the day you retain us — without it, your license is automatically suspended 30 days after arrest. From the first appearance in North Las Vegas Justice Court forward, we negotiate for reckless-driving reductions, DUI-court eligibility, or outright dismissal where the evidence cracks.
- Challenge the legality of the traffic stop (Fourth Amendment)
- Attack breathalyzer calibration and operator certification
- Demand the DMV hearing within 7 days of arrest
- Challenge blood-draw chain of custody
- Negotiate down to reckless driving where the evidence is weak
Drug Crimes in North Las Vegas
Drug arrests in North Las Vegas — possession, paraphernalia, sales, trafficking — almost always start with a search. If the search violated the Fourth Amendment, the evidence comes out. Cases file in North Las Vegas Justice Court.
From simple paraphernalia (NRS 453.566) to Cat E possession (NRS 453.336) to trafficking under 14 grams (NRS 453.3385), the defense playbook in North Las Vegas starts the same way: suppress the search. Whether the stop happened on I-15, during a traffic stop, or at a residence in Aliante, we attack consent, probable cause, and the warrant if there was one. For first-time felony possession, we push for drug-court diversion in North Las Vegas Justice Court that ends in dismissal.
- Suppress the search — Fourth Amendment / illegal stop
- Challenge constructive possession in shared spaces
- Push for drug-court diversion on first felonies
- Lab challenges — weight, purity, chain of custody
- Cooperation agreements for substantial assistance on trafficking
Domestic Violence in North Las Vegas
Nevada is a mandatory-arrest state for domestic battery — meaning a North Las Vegas officer arrests whoever they identify as the primary aggressor, even when that identification is wrong. North Las Vegas cases file in North Las Vegas Justice Court.
A first-offense domestic battery conviction (NRS 200.485) carries a federal lifetime firearm prohibition — the consequences reach far past the misdemeanor sentence. In North Las Vegas, we challenge the "primary aggressor" determination, push self-defense and defense-of-others theories, dissect 911 calls and body-cam footage, and where possible push for stayed-conviction outcomes that protect your record. If the accusation is rooted in a pending custody or divorce dispute, we surface it.
- Challenge the mandatory-arrest primary-aggressor finding
- Self-defense and defense-of-others under NRS 200.275
- False-allegation pattern analysis in custody/divorce contexts
- Body-cam, 911-call, and witness inconsistency exploitation
- Stayed-conviction or diversion outcomes where eligible
Assault & Battery in North Las Vegas
Assault and battery charges in North Las Vegas — simple battery, battery with substantial bodily harm, assault or battery with a deadly weapon — almost always come with conflicting versions of what happened. Cases file in North Las Vegas Justice Court.
Whether the incident happened at a Aliante bar, a casino on I-15, or a private residence, the State has to prove unlawful force and rule out self-defense (NRS 200.275). For North Las Vegas battery cases we dig into witness inconsistencies, 911 timing, surveillance footage, and the absence of injury where the State claims substantial bodily harm. With a deadly-weapon allegation, the question becomes how the object was actually used — that distinction decides Category B felony exposure.
- Self-defense / defense of others (NRS 200.275)
- Witness credibility and 911-call timing analysis
- Surveillance and body-cam review
- Drop deadly-weapon enhancement where the object was not used to cause SBH
- Mutual-combat and consent defenses where the facts support them
White Collar Crimes in North Las Vegas
White-collar prosecutions in North Las Vegas — fraud, embezzlement, identity theft, forgery, credit-card schemes — are document-heavy, intent-driven, and almost always investigated for weeks before charges file in North Las Vegas Justice Court.
By the time the State files in North Las Vegas Justice Court, they already have bank records, surveillance, and witness statements. North Las Vegas white-collar defense work starts with the records request and a parallel forensic accounting review — we look for accounting errors that were charged as fraudulent intent, lawful entitlements that were charged as embezzlement, and authorized-user defenses on credit-card cases. For multi-count indictments, the priority is consolidating counts and protecting your record.
- Forensic accounting review to attack fraudulent intent
- Authorized-user defense on credit-card cases
- Lawful-entitlement defense on embezzlement allegations
- Civil compromise and restitution-driven dismissal paths
- Multi-count consolidation to limit exposure
Sex Crimes in North Las Vegas
Sex-crime allegations in North Las Vegas — sexual assault, statutory rape, open or gross lewdness, solicitation of prostitution — carry registration consequences that outlast any prison sentence. Cases file in North Las Vegas Justice Court.
From sexual assault (NRS 200.366 — Category A, life on the table) to misdemeanor solicitation (NRS 201.354) and open/gross lewdness (NRS 201.210), North Las Vegas sex-crime defense starts before charging — early DNA review, witness interviews, motive analysis, and electronic-communications discovery. For sting-operation solicitation cases on the Strip or in North Las Vegas, we pull the audio, attack entrapment, and challenge the agreement element.
- Pre-charge investigation and witness interviews
- DNA and forensic-evidence review
- Entrapment defense in sting operations
- Motive analysis in custody / personal-conflict cases
- Fight the sex-offender registration trigger first
Traffic Violations in North Las Vegas
Traffic offenses in North Las Vegas — reckless driving, driving on a suspended license, hit-and-run, racing on a highway — go beyond a citation when there's prior history or serious bodily harm. Cases file in North Las Vegas Justice Court.
North Las Vegas traffic-violation cases on I-15 and US-95 most often come from radar enforcement, accident response, or DMV-flagged driving status. We attack the basis for the stop, the validity of the DMV notice in suspended-license cases (NRS 483.560), and the State's accident-reconstruction evidence in reckless-driving and hit-and-run cases. For commercial drivers, we coordinate with CDL-impact strategy.
- Challenge the basis for the stop
- Suspended-license notice defense (NRS 483.560)
- Accident-reconstruction challenges in reckless driving
- CDL-protection strategy for commercial drivers
- Negotiate down to non-moving violations where possible
Juvenile Offenses in North Las Vegas
Juvenile cases in North Las Vegas run through Clark County Family Court — separate procedure, separate stakes. The goal is keeping the record sealed, the school placement intact, and the future scholarship-eligible.
Whether the allegation is petit larceny, possession, vandalism, or a more serious felony-track matter, North Las Vegas juvenile defense work focuses on diversion, informal adjustment, and statement suppression. School-impact mitigation matters as much as the legal disposition — we coordinate with parents and school counselors to keep the case from following the child into high school records and college applications.
- Diversion and informal-adjustment placement
- Statement suppression — Miranda issues with minors
- School-impact mitigation and counselor coordination
- Record sealing eligibility tracking
- Felony-track avoidance for first offenses
Expungement & Record Sealing in North Las Vegas
Nevada doesn't technically have expungement — it has record sealing under NRS 179.245. For North Las Vegas residents, sealing a closed case can restore employment, housing, and licensing access that the conviction was blocking.
Eligibility depends on the offense category and the time elapsed since case closure. North Las Vegas sealing petitions filed through North Las Vegas Justice Court require certified judgment, FBI/NV background check, and statutory time-period proof. We handle the entire process — petition, prosecutor notice, court order, and DMV/firearm-rights restoration where applicable.
- Eligibility analysis under NRS 179.245
- Petition preparation and prosecutor notice
- Court order and post-sealing follow-through
- Firearm-rights restoration where qualified
- DMV record cleanup coordination
Criminal Appeals in North Las Vegas
If you were convicted in North Las Vegas or North Valley, Nevada gives you 30 days to file a notice of appeal. Miss that window and your direct appeal is gone — post-conviction relief becomes the only remaining lane.
North Las Vegas appeals from North Las Vegas Justice Court or Clark County District Court go to the Nevada Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. We review the trial record for preserved error, ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims, and constitutional violations. For post-conviction work, we file habeas petitions and ineffective-assistance motions within the one-year statutory window.
- Notice of appeal within the 30-day window
- Trial-record review for preserved error
- Direct appeal briefing to NV Supreme Court / Court of Appeals
- Post-conviction habeas petitions (NRS 34.720)
- Ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims
Bail & Bond Reduction in North Las Vegas
Bail set at first appearance in North Las Vegas is rarely the final number. North Las Vegas bail-reduction motions in North Las Vegas Justice Court routinely cut bail in half — or convert to release-on-recognizance — when the defense puts the right facts in front of the magistrate.
We file bail-reduction motions immediately after booking, supported by community-ties evidence, employment records, and a defense plan. For North Las Vegas cases, the play is to show the court the State's flight-risk and danger-to-community arguments are weak — and that release with conditions protects the integrity of the case without keeping a presumptively innocent person locked up.
- Bail-reduction motion within 24 hours of retainer
- Community-ties and employment evidence package
- Release-on-recognizance push where eligible
- Coordinated bondsman strategy on partial-cash bail
- Bail-revocation defense on alleged violations
Why North Las Vegas clients choose Freedom First
- 24/7 FREE Emergency Legal Hotline for Felonies & Misdemeanors
- 90% Win Rate — Proven track record in Clark County courts
- 0 clients have ever pled guilty to original charges
- Payment plans and financing available
- Former public defender — knows how prosecutors think
- Defense across North Las Vegas Justice Court, North Las Vegas Municipal Court, Clark County District Court
- Serving North Las Vegas and the surrounding North Valley
North Las Vegas criminal defense FAQ
Honest answers before you commit to anything.
I was arrested in North Las Vegas. Where will my case be filed?
North Las Vegas arrests typically book at North Las Vegas Detention Center and route through North Las Vegas Justice Court and North Las Vegas Municipal Court and Clark County District Court. Felonies move to district court within 48–72 hours for arraignment.
How fast should I call a lawyer after a North Las Vegas arrest?
Immediately. The first 24–72 hours decide what charges actually get filed, and DUI cases have a hard 7-day deadline to request the DMV hearing that protects your license. Call (702) 857-7197 any hour.
Do you offer free consultations for North Las Vegas cases?
Yes — every initial case review is free, confidential, and available 24/7. We give you an honest read on what you're facing before any commitment.
How much does criminal defense cost in North Las Vegas?
Retainers start at $3,500–$5,000 for misdemeanors and run $7,500–$15,000+ for felonies — well below the $15,000–$30,000+ most private firms in Las Vegas charge. Payment plans available: 50% today, 50% before court.
What's the difference between North Las Vegas arrests and Las Vegas Metro arrests?
North Las Vegas has its own Justice Court and Municipal Court with their own prosecutors — separate from Las Vegas Metro and Clark County DA.
Why North Las Vegas clients trust Freedom First
Thomas M. Wells, Esq.
Your Fighter in Court
"I stand behind every case we take. Your freedom is my mission."
Whether your case involves a North Las Vegas arrest or any other charge, Attorney Tom Wells fights it personally — from booking through verdict.
Attorney Tom Wells brings nearly 10 years of experience defending clients across Southern Nevada. A graduate of UNLV's Boyd School of Law with a background as a former Clark County Public Defender, Tom knows both sides of the courtroom — and uses that knowledge to win for you.
- J.D., William S. Boyd School of Law, UNLV
- Former Clark County Public Defender
- Board Certified · Constitutional Law Expert
- Member, State Bar of Nevada
- 90% Win Rate · 500+ Cases Won

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