Provost retains his seat on Henderson Municipal Court

      Henderson Municipal Court Judge John Provost kept the Department 2 seat he was appointed to several months ago.
      Provost, 36, had been sitting on the bench since his August appointment by Municipal Judge Ken Proctor, who sits in Department 1.
      He defeated challenger Ann Small, 64, by a margin of about 54 to 46 percent.
      Both candidates had previous judicial experience. Small had served as a judge pro tem two days a week during the first six months of 1996.
      Provost said prior to the election that his philosophy was to "treat the underlying problem(s)" that cause people to appear in Municipal Court on low-level offenses.
      Both he and Small favored more programs to help offenders understand the causes of their behavior and to overcome obstacles such as drug addiction or joblessness.
      Provost was a police officer for 12 years with the Wilmette, Ill., Police Department. He served as a civil trial attorney with a personal injury firm in Las Vegas until his appointment to the bench.
      Small, a Henderson resident since 1967, joined the city's staff as a prosecutor in 1990. For five years, she tried primarily domestic battery and drunken driving cases.
      Provost said that while on the bench, he stepped up efforts to get people to attend domestic battery counseling.