Incumbent Las Vegas judges have stiff challenges to re-election

Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge Cedric Kerns has spent the past two decades on the bench, and his challenger Crystal Eller says it’s time for a change.

Kerns, the chief judge, is running for another six-year term in Department 5.

Kerns considers the creation of the youth offender court during his tenure a highlight from his time on the bench, and if re-elected, he wants to continue to address issues like jail overcrowding and mental health issues through the specialty courts in Las Vegas.

“I’d like to help kids get on their feet and get out of the court system,” Kerns said.

The Nevada Supreme Court gave Kerns its Legacy of Justice award in 2013, and he’s drawn several other accolades for his work with the youth offender court and other recovery initiatives. Kerns maintains that those efforts have made a difference, but much more work remains, particularly in the area of mental health, he said.

“If we can help and work in that area, I think it only helps out the community as a whole,” Kerns said.

Kerns said his years of judicial experience makes him the better candidate, but Eller sees his two decades on the bench differently.

“He’s been there for 20 years, I think he’s out of touch with the community, for sure,” Eller said.

Eller has had her own criminal law practice, and served as the Las Vegas Traffic Commissioner. Her experience as a mediator, negotiator and defense attorney is the “ideal” combination for a judge, she said.

Although Eller called the current drug offender program “excellent,” she would like to make it accessible to more people, and to continue to track the progress of participants when they leave the program.

Eller wants to increase courtroom efficiency and expedite the time between the arraignment and the resolution of a case, and she wants to be accessible to the public and attorneys — “everyone who comes into my courtroom.”

Kerns drew $110,084 in campaign contributions during the first 10 weeks of 2017, to Eller’s $74,125 for the same period, according to reports filed with the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office.

DEPARTMENT 3

Judge Heidi Almase must beat Cara Campbell, a longtime Clark County deputy district attorney, and attorney Robert Kurth to win a second term in Department 3.

Improving and expanding the mental health court is one of Almase’s chief goals. Testing for the new specialty court began in 2015, but it became officially operational with Las Vegas City Council funding in 2016.

Almase sees people with a broad spectrum of ability — from very basic functioning to having a job and living independently. Sometimes, they need the most basic items, in addition to doctor’s visits and medication.

“What we try to do is create a complete wrap of services,” Almase said. “These people have good hearts, they just need monitoring. If we keep them appropriately monitored, they don’t end up in the system.”

Things like hearing that people who went through the program are now holding the first job they’ve ever had “are really fabulously rewarding,” Almase said.

A move from the district attorney’s office to the Municipal Court would allow Campbell to “keep people out of the system that I come from,” she said. “If you can get a defendant’s attention when they’re committing petty crimes and do something to change why they’re acting out, you can act as a deterrent.”

Campbell said she would run a respectful and professional courtroom. She also wants to delve deeper into the mental health court issues.

“It’s just a revolving door,” Campbell said. “We should address the other underlying issues.”

Campbell pulled in more than two-and-a-half times the campaign contributions as her two opponents combined: $54,937 during the first 10 weeks of 2017. Almase received $16,650 and Kurth’s $3,650.

Kurth has managed his own law practice since 1996, representing clients in a wide-range of cases — from criminal to custody and divorce. Kurth has appeared in Nevada courts at all levels and practices some in Utah.

He wants improved courtroom technology and continued expansion of the specialized courts and access to drug and mental health courts. His mantra is: tough on crime, respect your rights, protect families, do not legislate from the bench and protect the Constitution.

Kurth made a recent unsuccessful bid for Las Vegas Justice of the Peace. Kurth thinks his experience representing clients from a range of backgrounds and “understanding what the litigants go through that are in the system” qualify him to be a judge.

He also would aim to revamp how payments on warrants currently work. He doesn’t think it’s fair that if, for example, someone gets pulled over for one citation and they’re issued three tickets, if they miss a payment by a day they end up with three warrant charges.

“I think it should be one warrant charge,” Kurth said. “People get stuck in this where they can’t get out. They can’t get their head above water.”

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Find @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.