CARSON CITY -- MGM Mirage Senior Vice President Paula Gentile will lead the 33-member commission that is charged with improving Nevada's judicial system.

On Wednesday, Gentile was elected chairwoman of the Article 6 Commission, a group formed last fall by Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Rose. Article 6 is the section of the state constitution that pertains to judicial matters.

"I have been part of the large group of lawyers and judges who think we can do better," said Gentile, general counsel for risk management at MGM Mirage. "My goal is to look at the justice system with the eye toward improving it to meet needs of all people."

It is important the commission finds how to improve courts without spending more money, she said. One immediate suggestion she made was that more lawyers should serve as unpaid judges pro tempore in lower courts of the state.

New Chief Justice Bill Maupin said he and other Supreme Court justices do not want to control the direction and set the agenda for the commission. Members of the general public, lawyers and lower-court judges should develop recommendations on what they want Nevada's court system to look like in 20 years, he said.

"It has to be your creation," Maupin told the commission. "We will provide you with whatever resources you need. We were concerned the Supreme Court was steering this effort. We don't want that."

During the meeting, National Judicial College President Bill Dressel, Boyd School of Law Dean Richard Morgan, Reno lawyer Thomas "Spike" Wilson, Las Vegas businessman Mike Benjamin and Henderson real estate agent Tina Siller were appointed to be the executive committee.

Gentile said the full commission will meet every other month. There is no deadline for submission of recommendations and no date for the commission will disband.

At the next meeting, the commission members are to decide what specific topics they want to consider.

During Wednesday's five-hour meeting, members engaged in an informal debate on whether District Court judges and Supreme Court justices should be appointed and then stand for re-election in a yes or no retention election. A bill before the Legislature would accomplish that objective, but it needs public approval.

"Now people who raise the most money, have the best 30-second message and put up the most signs get elected," Supreme Court Justice Jim Hardesty said.

Craig Walton, president of the Nevada Center for Public Ethics, suggested that an objective standard should be developed on qualifications needed by judges. He added there also must be a way for the public to learn who are the best qualified candidates.

"It is all arbitrary now ," he said. "Throw a dart and pick."

Candidates for judgeships have no choice but to seek contributions from lawyers if they are going to win, Wilson said.

Lawyers should be required to disclose to the opposing counsel whether they have donated to the judge hearing their cases, Wilson suggested.

He added that campaign contribution reports should be filed with the clerk of the court so lawyers can determine easily whether and from whom judges received donations.

Rose formed the commission in part to respond to a series of Los Angeles Times' stories that detailed how Nevada lawyers frequently argued cases before judges to whom they had made campaign contributions.