Burning federal property is a grave offense in Nevada. Learn how to deal with it on this presentation from Atty. Ross Goodman!

1. US Federal Arson Laws

2. Setting a property on fire
with the deliberate and
malicious intent to harm or
destroy is called arson.
And this could escalate to
federal arson when it involves
federal property.
The State of Nevada is mostly
made up of federal lands.
According to this report, the
federal government owns 84.9%
of land in Nevada so there is a
high chance of someone directly
or indirectly burning a federal
property.

3. What is arson? Is arson a federal crime?
The legal definition of arson is the intended burning of a
property, whether public or private, where the subject is
scorched, charred or burned.
Someone who commits arson is called an arsonist.
There are varying degrees of arson as seen in NRS
(Nevada Revised Statutes) 205:
First Degree
An act becomes a first degree arson when a person
aids or counsels others to burn a dwelling house, a
home, whether vacant or occupied as well as private
properties which are inhabited by two or more
This is an automatic category B felony.

4. Second Degree
A second degree arson is
of the same essence. The
only glaring difference is it
becomes so when the
burned properties are
abandoned buildings or
other structures.
And similar to the first
degree arson, this also
holds a category B felony
charge.
Third Degree
You are guilty of a third degree
arson if you directly burn, aid,
and, counsel the arson to an
unoccupied personal property
that is valued at $25 or more, a
property that is under legal
interest, and any timber,
shrubbery, crops, and
vegetation that is not yours.
This violation possesses a
category D felony in Nevada.

5. Fourth Degree
Fourth degree is when a person attempts to
or attempts to aid or counsel an arsonist in
burning any of the establishments that were
mentioned at the degrees above. This can only
imposed with a category D felony or even a
misdemeanor.
Take note that arson does not only constitute
buildings or other structures, other properties
such as vehicles, forests, and vessels are also
of the spectrum. And one major reason why
people commit arson is due to insurance fraud.

6. When does arson become a federal violation?
As we have stated before, an arson becomes federal arson when the property that was set
fire was under ownership of the federal government. The official code of the United States,
particularly the 20 U.S. Code § 107e, describes federal property as “any building, land, or
other real property owned, leased, or occupied by any department, agency, or
of the United States (including the Department of Defense and the United States Postal
Service).”
And according to 18 U.S. Code § 81, properties such as
“any building, structure or vessel, any machinery or
building materials or supplies, military or naval stores,
munitions of war, or any structural aids or appliances
for navigation or shipping…” becomes under federal
control when they are within the special maritime and
territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

7. What are the penalties for federal arson?
First and second degree arsons are category B felony in
Nevada which has penalties of 1 to 15 years of prison
(combined) with fines that could go up to $15,000 while
third and fourth degree arsons are category D felony
punishments such as one to four years in prison and
of $5,000.
A federal arson incurs very severe penalties. Once found
guilty, you can be imprisoned up to 25 years. If deaths
involved or if the magnitude of the arson is critical, you
could face life imprisonment.

8. What are the defenses to use against federal arson?
One defense that you can use in the federal court is that the
burning is not of intention, simply accidental, and cannot be
contained due to the resilience and the promptness of the
A sample scenario is that your vehicle malfunctioned and
unintentionally broke into a federal property, and exploded.
Another effective defense is that you are intoxicated at the time
the burning and the act was performed without any intentions of
federal arson, but rather because you have no control of your
thoughts. Insanity is also one defense to consider.

9. If you did not intend to start a fire,
especially on a federal property or
you are not the suspect at all, the
best thing to do is to procure the
help of a Las Vegas criminal defense
attorney to help with your charges.
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