Municipal judge criticizes process of choosing a chief

Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge George Assad issued a withering rebuke Monday of the current system of choosing the chief municipal judge, saying the system "is oppressive, outdated and violates fundamental principles of fairness and due process."

Assad also criticized Municipal Court Chief Judge Toy Gregory, who has been at the post since 2000.

"He has demonstrated racial insensitivity, gender bias and total disregard for the rights of the minority judges," Assad said.

The lashing came before the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs, which is deciding whether to approve a bill that makes several changes to the city of Las Vegas charter.

Assembly Bill 514 includes provisions that would allow municipal judges in Las Vegas to appoint hearing commissioners to handle traffic-related misdemeanors in effort to relieve the workload of the six judges.

Gregory, with Judges Bert Brown and Cedric Kerns, came out in support of the bill during a teleconference with legislators in Carson City.

But Assad and Judge Betsy Kolkoski were opposed to the current wording of the bill and urged lawmakers to reduce both the power and the appointment process for the chief judge.

Assad and Kolkoski also said the entire system of choosing a chief judge needs to be revised.

"This honorable committee is our last, best hope for ending this oppressive abuse of power that we have been experiencing for the last seven years," Assad said.

Presently, the Las Vegas municipal judge who has seniority in years of service is the "Master Judge," according to state statutes, and is in charge of administrative regulations and setting trial dates in municipal court.

Gregory was appointed as a municipal judge in 1983 and has been re-elected to each six-year term since then, earning him the top job in 2000.

Assad read a letter from Justice of the Peace Abbi Silver, who served as a municipal judge from 2003 to 2006. In the letter, she said she stopped going to municipal judges meetings in 2006.

"There was absolutely no point in my attendance when the court is run by the three most senior judges to the exclusion of the other half of the judiciary," Assad read. "As a result, I believe the Las Vegas municipal court is not moving forward."

Gregory said after the hearing that the accusations weren't true and was surprised to hear them.

"I didn't know we were going to get blindsided by this," he said after the meeting. "This kind of hit me cold."

"I bend over backwards to work with the judges for the good of the court," Gregory said. "I try to take a consensus of the judges when we take action, and normally that's the way we do it."

Kolkoski said all courts in Nevada with four or more judges, including the state Supreme Court, elect or rotate their chief judges.

The Reno Municipal Court rotates an "administrative judge" role each year between its four judges, a system she said she would like to see in Las Vegas.

But Gregory said he and judges Brown, Kerns and Rob Bare are in favor of having the judges elect the chief judge.

"It'd be much better for the judges to elect the chief judge," he said. "They know who's capable."

"I feel that by simply rotating that position, you're going to eventually maybe get a judge who is not qualified to serve in that position," Gregory said.

City of Las Vegas Deputy Manager Betsy Fretwell said she was going to try to come to a compromise between the judges, but if that effort failed, she would still like to see the bill move forward.

Kolkoski said the discord among the judges isn't new.

"There is a long history of acrimony and discord among the Las Vegas Municipal Court judges that dates back over a decade," she said.