North Las Vegas cuts municipal court to 1 judge

Only one judge will remain on the North Las Vegas Municipal Court’s bench beginning July 1, under a plan unanimously approved Wednesday night by the City Council.

The council voted 4-1 to eliminate the seat currently held by Municipal Court Judge Catherine Ramsey, who was barred from seeking re-election in 2017 after admitting to seven charges of unprofessional conduct.

By the middle of next year, Judge Sean Hoeffgen will be the sole judge to hear misdemeanor and traffic-related cases in North Las Vegas. Moving forward, city officials said they will likely hire lawyers to serve as magistrates for traffic and parking fines.

Hoeffgen, who was elected in 2015, was reprimanded in August for failing to report Ramsey’s misconduct and was required to complete an ethics class under a settlement reached with the discipline commission.

“I think it’s good stewardship to reduce down to one judge,” Councilman Isaac Barron said. “If in fact a year from now it turns out that we have more cases, then we can bring back another judge.”

Councilwoman Anita Wood cast the lone dissenting vote, saying it may be difficult for one judge to handle a multitude of cases in North Las Vegas. While citing figures for the Nevada Judiciary, Wood said that North Las Vegas Municipal Court’s two courtrooms handled 3,271 non-traffic cases during the 2015 fiscal year.

That’s compared with 3,889 cases handled by six municipal judges in Las Vegas last year, another 2,018 municipal cases in four courtrooms for Reno and 1,001 cases handled by two municipal judges in Sparks, Wood said.

“I think it shows that North Las Vegas has already been doing an amazing amount of work very cost-efficiently, very judicially,” Wood said. “I’m just very concerned about public safety and very concerned about putting too much burden on one court.”

Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown also expressed reservations, but added “we won’t know unless we try it.”

At Councilman Richard Cherchio’s request, the council will review the number of municipal cases and cost savings six months from now, followed by another review in January 2018.

North Las Vegas city officials said the move was aimed at saving $365,821 annually from salaries for the judge and an assistant. But the issue is also a political rebuke of Ramsey, the first woman to serve as a judge in North Las Vegas’ history.

Ramsey, who was elected to a six-year term in 2011, admitted to “failing to maintain the dignity of her office” by amending charges in several cases against the wishes of both the defense and prosecutor, according to a settlement reached in August with the Nevada State Commission on Judicial Discipline. She also admitted to making her assistant do her personal errands.

Under the settlement, Ramsey was barred from seeking re-election to the bench next year and will be suspended without pay for the final three months of her term. She was also required to complete an exam to determine whether she is fit for duty, and must issue an apology to the people who filed the complaint against her.

A recall attempt was launched against her in 2015, but the matter remains tied up in court. A Clark County district judge has ruled against Ramsey’s argument that judges cannot be recalled; Ramsey then appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court, where the case is still pending.

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Find @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.