Nevada Judge David Huff dies at 72

CARSON CITY -- Nevada District Court Judge David Huff has died after an ongoing illness.

Court officials said Huff had announced his plan to retire at the end of April and had been off the bench since January because of poor health.

He died Thursday at a Carson City hospital. He was 72.

Huff served 15 years as a District Court judge, serving the communities of Fallon and Yerington, first in the 3rd Judicial District. He became the first judge on the 10th Judicial Court in January. He was instrumental in the development of the new court, formed last year when Churchill and Lyon counties were separated into individual districts.

"It is difficult to lose such a fine judge, especially someone who has been a strong force in Nevada's judiciary during the past 15 years," Chief Justice Nancy Saitta of the Nevada Supreme Court said. "Judge Huff was a gentle man, and he cared deeply about service to the people of the state. He will be missed by the Supreme Court and the rest of his judicial family, as I know he will by all residents of Churchill County."

Huff received undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Iowa and passed that state's bar exam in 1965. He passed the California bar in 1970 and Nevada's in 1985.

He joined the Navy and served in Vietnam. His military service included work in the Judge Advocate General's Corps and as a military judge.

Huff moved to Fallon in 1982 and had a private law practice for 11 years. He was elected to the bench in 1996.

Services have not been set.