Justice Court opening attracts 18 lawyers
William Kephart’s election to the Clark County District Court bench created an opening in Las Vegas Justice Court, and 18 lawyers are now vying for the seat.
The list includes Clark County prosecutors, a lawyer with the Nevada attorney general’s office, criminal defense attorneys and civil lawyers.
An eight-member Clark County judicial selection committee, headed by Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Gibbons, is scheduled to interview the applicants in January.
They are tasked with recommending three finalists to the Clark County Commission, which is expected to appoint one of the lawyers to fill the vacancy in February.
One of the lawyers who applied for the seat is Clark County prosecutor Richard Scow, the son of Commissioner Mary Beth Scow, who said she would abstain from voting if her son were a finalist.
The other applicants are Melissa Alessi, Adam Bowler, Amy Chelini, Karen Connolly, Chris Davis, Patrick Ferguson, Bruce Gale, Tierra Jones, Bita Khamsi, Kristine Kuzemka, Nadine Morton, Rochelle Nguyen, Stacy Perez, Robert Purdy, Jay Raman, Kurt Smith and Telia Williams.
The applicants must have been an attorney for at least five years. The job pays $153,449 a year, according to county spokesman Dan Kulin.
The seat will be up for election for a six-year term in 2016. Kephart was elected District Court judge in November.
Earlier this month, Gov. Brian Sandoval named District Court judges Jerome “Jerry” Tao and Abbi Silver to the newly created Nevada Appeals Court.
That makes two more openings at the Regional Justice Center, as Tao and Silver are scheduled to start their new jobs Jan. 5. The judicial selection committee could start accepting applications for the District Court seats in February.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
