DISTRICT COURT DEPARTMENT 10

Once Bill Kephart and Jessie Walsh weeded out their opponents in the primary election, the race between the duo became increasingly contentious.

Kephart, a chief deputy district attorney in Clark County, claims the judge is inconsistent. Walsh, who has been in office more than a decade, contends Kephart is an unethical attorney who once roughed up a witness testifying in a criminal case.

The only commonality between the two is that they want to preside over Department 10.

"I could have run for an open seat; I ran here because I have a concern here," said Kephart, 47. "I didn't run against her before because I didn't think she had proven herself one way or another at that point."

Kephart points to Walsh's rating in this year's Review-Journal Judicial Performance Evaluation survey, which showed a little more than 40 percent of attorneys believed the 50-year-old was worth retaining.

He believes he is the better candidate and has a plateful of ideas if he is elected.

Kephart said judges need to become more involved in the probation process because the Probation Department is overloaded; 15 officers are assigned to 40,000 cases, he said. He suggested that judges take a personal interest in defendants and make them appear in court to update their status.

The probation officer can simply verify the defendant's statements.

"The court needs to get involved," he said. "The judge should say, 'You have to deal with me. If you don't do what I tell you to, I'm going to lose faith in you.' If a defendant knows the judge probably cares and is paying attention to him, it might motivate him to stay clean or stop committing crimes."

Kephart also suggested that as an alternative to prison time, defendants be given the opportunity to join the military.

"Militaries quit doing that and I think it's a valuable part of rehabilitation," Kephart said. "I think a lot of people would go into the military and take direction. They have obviously stepped off someplace and don't have any structure. The only structure they end up with is prison."

Kephart also believes that judges should make criminals pay for their crimes. Cash, that is. He can recall only one time in his 20 years as a prosecutor that a judge fined a defendant in a criminal matter.

Kephart denies that he has ever acted unprofessionally. He said Walsh repeatedly tells the public that he choked a witness. Kephart said he was performing a court-approved demonstration on a rapist who had choked a Canadian tourist. He said the defendant was not injured.

"They (the defense team) agreed for me to do that and they filed a complaint against me," he said.

Walsh could not be reached for comment.

In previous interviews, she disagreed with the Review-Journal surveys, saying only a handful of attorneys are surveyed. Because their names are not included, she does not know if the lawyers are simply vindictive because they lost a case in her courtroom.

"The Constitution gives you a right to address your accuser," she said. "But I can't because I don't know who my accusers are."

Walsh received her degree from the University of Arizona College of Law. Prior to serving as a District Court judge, where she handles only civil matters, Walsh presided over Municipal Court. She was appointed to that position by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman in 1999.

Walsh works with the Nevada Law Foundation, which offers legal services to the disadvantaged. She has is also a member of the Nevada Judicial Historical Society and a chairwoman for the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.