Nevada Supreme Court lets licensing board fine architect without a jury
October 29, 2026
Carson City, Nevada; October 29, 2026: The Nevada Supreme Court ruled that a California architect had no right to a jury trial before a state licensing board imposed over $29,000 in fines. Jeffrey Hagen now plans to petition the U.S. Supreme Court after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution’s jury trial guarantee does not apply when the Nevada State Board of Architecture imposes civil penalties.
“When the government wants to punish someone with civil penalties, it should have to prove its case to a jury,” said Cameron Halling, an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation. “Americans should not lose that protection because a state agency, instead of a federal one, brings the charges. Jeffrey Hagen deserves his day in court before a jury.”
Hagen founded JAHA Architecture in Sacramento and has practiced architecture for more than 20 years. When a longtime client bought a property in Las Vegas, Hagen drew plans for an interior remodel and submitted an application to the Nevada State Board of Architecture. The board charged him with practicing architecture in Nevada without a Nevada license. After an in-house hearing with no jury, it fined him $29,000.
The Nevada Constitution guarantees a jury trial only for the kinds of claims that juries decided in 1864, when the state adopted its constitution. The court held that none of the charges against Hagen closely resembled those claims, so he had no right to a jury. The court also declined to follow SEC v. Jarkesy, the 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires a jury when the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks civil penalties for fraud.
Hagen plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hold that the Seventh Amendment’s jury trial guarantee protects Americans facing state penalties, too. A win would restore that right for anyone facing penalties from a state agency.
Pacific Legal Foundation represents Hagen free of charge. The case is Jeffrey Hagen v. Nevada State Board of Architecture.
Photography by John Michael Cooper.
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About Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation is a national nonprofit law firm that defends Americans threatened by government overreach and abuse. Since our founding in 1973, we challenge the government when it violates individual liberty and constitutional rights. With active cases in 34 states plus Washington, D.C., PLF represents clients in state and federal courts, with 18 wins of 21 cases litigated at the U.S. Supreme Court.