ARTICLE 2. California-Nevada Compact for Jurisdiction on Interstate Waters [853.3. - 853.4.]

Cal. Penal Code - PEN 2.

in effect

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 853.3. Section 853.3.

(a) Pursuant to the authority vested in this state by Section 112 of Title 4 of the United States Code, the Legislature of the State of California hereby ratifies the California-Nevada Compact for Jurisdiction on Interstate Waters as set forth in Section 853.4. (b) The Legislature finds that law enforcement has been impaired in sections of Lake Tahoe and Topaz Lake forming an interstate boundary between California and Nevada because of difficulty in determining precisely where a criminal act was committed. (c) The Legislature intends that a person arrested for an act that is illegal in both states should not be freed merely because neither state could establish that a crime was committed within its boundaries. (d) The California-Nevada Compact for Jurisdiction on Interstate Waters is enacted to provide for the enforcement of the laws of this state with regard to certain acts committed on Lake Tahoe or Topaz Lake, on either side of the boundary line between California and Nevada.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 853.4. Section 853.4.

(a) As used in this compact, unless the context otherwise requires, “party state” means a state that has enacted this compact. (b) If conduct is prohibited by the party states, courts and law enforcement officers in either state who have jurisdiction over criminal offenses committed in a county where Lake Tahoe or Topaz Lake forms a common interstate boundary have concurrent jurisdiction to arrest, prosecute, and try offenders for the prohibited conduct committed anywhere on the body of water forming a boundary between the two states. (c) This section applies only to those crimes that are established in common between the States of Nevada and California, and an acquittal or conviction and sentence by one state shall bar a prosecution for the same act or omission by the other. (d) This compact does not authorize any conduct prohibited by a party state. (e) This compact shall become operative when ratified by law by the party states and shall remain in full force and effect so long as the provisions of this compact, as ratified by the State of Nevada, remain substantively the same as the provisions of this compact, as ratified by this section. This compact may be amended in the same manner as is required for it to become operative.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026