Clark County debates need for additional courthouse

Chief District Judge Jerry Wiese has a clear message for local lawmakers: Clark County needs 18 new judges, and those judges need a new courthouse.

But county commissioners urged caution this week, saying they were wary of project costs and wanted to avoid a repeat of the delays and budget overruns that plagued the construction of the Regional Justice Center.

“Let’s say you file a civil lawsuit — we want you to be able to get a trial within 12 to 24 months,” Wiese said. “Right now, because of the numbers that we have, it’s generally taking three to five years.”

The figure would be split between 10 additional civil and criminal judges and eight for Family Court. The Eighth District, which serves Clark County, currently has 58 judges.

Wiese said the required number could surpass the current estimate, since the National Center for State Courts is currently conducting another weighted caseload study. As it stands, however, Clark County has too many cases per judge, according to Wiese.

The Clark County Commission recognizes the need for a new courthouse but, bound by budgetary constraints, is still negotiating with the courts, Wiese said. At a discussion during Tuesday’s Clark County Commission meeting, the county’s elected leaders concurred on the need for a new courthouse but disagreed on what should happen first.

Construction of current courthouse a ‘cautionary tale’

Commission Chair Tick Segerblom began the discussion ready to form a community committee to discuss a new courthouse’s design and development. He wanted public discussion on the possibility of a new courthouse before staff proceeded with cost analyses.

Others disagreed. Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick, the most vocal in her opposition, said the county needs a cost estimate before anything else.

Kirkpatrick cited the early 2000s construction of the Regional Justice Center as a cautionary tale, calling that process “a mess.” One of several district courthouses in the Las Vegas Valley, the Justice Center opened four years late and $60 million over budget, for a total of $185 million. Kirkpatrick wants to avoid a repeat, she said.

Commissioners Jim Gibson and Justin Jones echoed Kirkpatrick’s sentiment, arguing that the county should get a clearer picture of the cost before moving forward with public discussion.

“I get that the judges feel that this is the right thing to do and the timing is right,” Gibson said. “We respect that, but our responsibility is to make sure that we start something that we can finish.”

Jones said Real Property Management — the county’s real estate and construction management department — should conduct a study to determine what is essential for the judges and what isn’t, which he said would inform the cost estimate. Kirkpatrick said she didn’t want to have to cut social services or parks to fund the courthouse, which she said could be avoided by an updated cost estimate.

$800M cost estimate

Following the concerns, Segerblom relented, retracting his suggestion to create the committee before determining the project’s cost.

“It’s just chicken versus egg,” Segerblom told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Wiese faced similar challenges when proposing the idea to state lawmakers. In February, Wiese testified to the Nevada Legislature in favor of Assembly Bill 66, which would have added the requested 18 judges. After legislators raised cost concerns and questioned judges’ workloads, the body cut a significant portion and never took action on the bill.

Despite the cost concerns, the court did have an estimate of how much it would take to build a new courthouse: $800 million, according to Wiese. However, he said, county officials expressed to him that the figure would not be feasible.

For Wiese, it’s back to the drawing board. He said the court’s current goal is to build a south tower of the Regional Justice Center, but he is waiting for the county to tell him how much it’s willing to pay.

“We’re trying to work with Real Property Management and architects to come up with a plan for a building that they can afford that will still provide the community with the access to justice that we need to provide,” Wiese said.

Contact Isaiah Steinberg at isteinberg@reviewjournal.com. Follow @IsaiahStei27 on X.