Joe Bonaventure, a first-term justice of the peace in Las Vegas Justice Court, received a decent 63 percent retention score in the 2006 Judicial Performance Evaluation. Photo by Gary Thompson.

Clark County's justices of the peace apparently are keepers.

With rare exception, more than half the attorneys in the 2006 Judicial Performance Evaluation said these judges should remain on the bench. Judge Karen Bennett-Haron narrowly missed the mark with a 49 percent retention rate, but her 10-point leap since the last such survey two years ago means she has improved the most dramatically among her peers.

Even neophyte Joe Bonaventure, who took office early last year, earned a respectable score of 63 percent.

Las Vegas Justice Court Chief Judge James Bixler, who is running for a Clark County District Court seat this fall, captured the highest rating within his group. Ninety-four percent of attorneys evaluating him said he should be retained; only two other judges, of the 64 rated, did as well.

"I'm very flattered that so many of the practicing members of the bar have such high regard," said Bixler, who has served on the bench for 25 years. "I call each case just the way I see it."

High satisfaction with this court is expressed in other ways. Most of the 13 justices of the peace who were rated, including those representing Henderson and North Las Vegas, were found by at least half the attorneys to be more than adequate in all of a dozen categories, such as coming to work prepared and on time, knowing the law and properly applying it, rendering fair decisions and showing no bias or impropriety.

Bixler leads the pack, followed by Judges Stephen Dahl, Stephen George, Rodney Burr, Tony Abbatangelo, Deborah Lippis, Ann Zimmerman, Douglas Smith and William Jansen.

What attorneys like best about Bixler are his courteous manner and lack of impropriety or bias regarding race, gender and religion. In their comments, many attorneys enthused that he would make a superb District Court judge.

Justice courts have limited jurisdiction over criminal, civil and traffic matters. Local justices of the peace administer criminal probable cause reviews, felony and misdemeanor arraignments and preliminary hearings and trials for misdemeanor and traffic cases.

Their civil jurisdiction includes amounts up to $10,000, small claims up to $5,000 and landlord-tenant eviction proceedings. They also handle traffic citations issued by law enforcement.

Bonaventure, who is the court's youngest judge at 29, was considered more than adequate in 42 percent of all responses. In their generally positive comments, many said they are impressed that someone long on name recognition -- his father is a well-known District Court judge -- but short on experience would take the job so seriously and get up to speed so quickly.

It seems confusion over his name -- his father is Joseph T. Bonaventure -- still lingers. One attorney playfully wrote, "Which Joe Bonaventure is this again? It confused the voters."

Bonaventure said despite initial low expectations or uncertainty over what to expect from him, the survey results reflect the feedback he gets from attorneys who come before him.

"I'm always working hard to prepare and be efficient, and I think that's coming through. I think the attorneys realize how hard I'm working at it," he said.

As time goes by, Bonaventure added, people will come to know him less as his father's son and more as his own man.

Nancy Oesterle, who had a 75 percent retention score, got her best marks for showing no bias regarding race, religion or gender. Interestingly, on the trait of starting court on time, moving business along, and doing enough work, the same percentage of attorneys ranked her more than adequate and less than adequate -- 36 percent on each side.

Contradictory scores are not the rule, but they are not unusual, either. Natalie Tyrrell, a justice of the peace in North Las Vegas Township, got her highest "less than adequate" rating of 35 percent in properly applying the law, offset by the 40 percent who said she excels in that same area.

Bennett-Haron, who was appointed in 2002, said she doesn't put any stock in the survey. Indeed, challenger Jim Gubler in the 2004 election unsuccessfully used her low scores in his campaign against her. Bennett-Haron won by a comfortable margin.

"It is not a true representation of the people I was elected to serve. It is a select group of lawyers who, in my opinion, want to control the bench," she said. "I am here to serve the public at large, and the retention score, quite frankly, has no relevance to that."

Fewer than half the attorneys evaluating Bennett-Haron said she was more than adequate or less than adequate in any particular area. She does best at showing no bias regarding religion and gender, they said, and worst at showing no bias regarding race and properly applying the law.