Four vie for judge in Department 1

In the upcoming election, Henderson offers four choices for Municipal Court Judge Department 1.

The six-year term is opened to a Henderson resident who has lived in the area at least for 12 months before filing dates and is licensed to practice law in Nevada courts. The annual salary is $137.867.

Sandy DiGiacomo

Since she was old enough to enjoy Disney characters – about 6 or 7 years old – Sandy DiGiacomo, 44, knew she wanted to be a lawyer.

A Las Vegas native, she grew up near Flamingo Road and Sandhill Road and graduated from Bishop Gorman High School.

She went to school in California at Marymount College for her undergraduate degree and Loyola Marymount University for law school.

“I studied business administration because I wanted to be well-rounded,” she said. “Also, in case I opened my own practice, I wanted that background.”

DiGiacomo enjoyed every part about law school.

“The only hard part was the times for classes,” she said. “I had one semester where we would have long breaks in between classes. You’d start at 9 a.m., have a four-hour break and then have another class. You wouldn’t end the day until late at night.”

Her goal was always to become a district attorney.

After law school, in a tough job market, DiGiacomo did contract work in Los Angeles for various organizations to gain experience.

She moved to Ohio to join a law firm, working mostly on immigration law cases and civil litigation.

But all roads led her back to Las Vegas, where she decided to apply for the Clark County district attorney’s office.

“I knew I was moving back here, and I knew I was getting a job with (the district attorney’s office),” she said. “It was just a question of when I’d start.”

She went to work in 1999.

“In all these years, I have never had a day where I didn’t enjoy coming to work,” she said.

She enjoyed trial work, which included murder cases, opposed to the desk work that came at her other law firm.

DiGiacomo has been a Henderson resident since 2001.

“I love it and never want to leave it,” she said.

Her first time running for an elected position was in 2008, when she sought to become the Henderson justice of the peace. She was defeated in the general election.

DiGiacomo decided to run again, this time for municipal court.

“I’m running on my experience,” she said. “I have dedicated my career to helping the community and keeping the streets safe.”

Terry Jones Zach

Terry Jones Zach, 35, was born and raised in Henderson. Four generations of her family – most of whom are graduates of Basic High School – live within a five-mile radius of her.

From early on, Zach had law school on her mind.

“I’ve known I wanted to go to law school since I was in junior high,” she said. “We had a family friend who was a civil attorney. I remember people being so proud of him and kept thinking, ‘I could do that.’ ”

Going to UNLV, she retained her focus.

“I was a nut about my grades,” Zach said. “And I worked full time, so I didn’t have time to get into trouble.”

Jones left Las Vegas for Washington to attend Gonzaga University, where she earned her juris doctorate.

“But the goal was always to come back home,” she said.

Her original intent was to practice business law. However, she enjoyed criminal procedure and decided to join the law offices of John J. Momot to practice criminal law.

“It was a lot of stress and a lot of high stakes,” Zach said. “I was second chair on a lot of high-profile criminal cases.”

Even though she enjoyed criminal law, she decided to venture to other legal practices.

“It is exciting to prepare for a murder trial,” she said. “But I realized I couldn’t do that and have a family.”

So Zach, who practices at Mueller, Hinds & Associates, traded in criminal cases for misdemeanors.

“It’s still just as important,” she said.

Becoming a judge was always part of her plan.

“I wanted to run to give back to the community,” she said.

Her husband and two children were nervous but excited to see her run.

“They knew this was coming,” she said. “They have been really supportive.”

As a judge, she hopes to balance protecting the community with making sure everyone who comes before the bench is heard.

“Everyone is entitled to be innocent until proven guilty,” Zach said.

Even if she doesn’t win, Zach said she will return as a candidate.

“They say some candidates have to run multiple times before they win,” she said. “It builds up name recognition.”

Mark Stevens

Mark Stevens, 50, was born and raised in Nebraska.

After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in business administration, Stevens joined the Marine Corps in 1988.

“I wanted to serve my country as well as gain experience,” he said.

While serving, he finished his juris doctorate from the University of Nebraska College of Law with the hope of serving as an attorney in the Marines.

“They put you right in the courtroom,” he said.

Stevens took the State Bar of Nevada exam in 1991.

“It’s actually a funny story,” he said. “Nevada was a state you could take the bar early. The military doesn’t care where you are licensed at as long as you’re licensed.”

Through his career in the military, he served as a captain, company commander and a judge advocate defense attorney.

When he got out of the military, he moved to Las Vegas since he was already licensed in the state. He began working as a private attorney and a law enforcement training instructor.

In addition to working as an attorney, Stevens joined the Henderson Police Department in 1997.

“It helped me see all the aspects (of the system),” he said.

But Stevens wanted to put his law degree to good use, so he decided to return to the courtroom.

In 2001, he started working for the city attorney’s office.

Because he has worked in multiple aspects of the legal process, including law enforcement, Stevens said he was a good candidate for judge.

He ran unopposed in 2007 for Municipal Court Department 1.

During his career, he helped establish the Veterans Court, which helps defendants who might have committed misdemeanor crimes because of problems readjusting to life after military service.

“Veterans Court is the highlight of my career,” he said. “It gives me pleasure to see these guys work hard and see the progress they make.”

Stevens is running again because he enjoys his position. He said he hopes to add to what he has accomplished.

“It’s an honor to serve in the position,” he said. “I hope to keep serving another six years.”

Gary Thompson

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Gary Thompson, 47, graduated in 1983 from Basic High School.

“I was a champion swimmer in high school,” Thompson said. “I think I still hold the record for the 100-yard breaststroke.”

During his first semester as a freshman at UNLV, Thompson went to an occupation fair where he met with representatives from the Sahara Hotel-Casino.

“I fell in love with them,” he said. “I loved the idea of working for a hotel. I knew that is what I wanted to do.”

He studied hotel administration as a result.

During a business law class, Thompson said his professor noticed he had a knack for law.

“I had the highest grade in the class,” he said. “It just came easy.”

His professor tried to persuade him to consider law, but Thompson declined.

What many people in Thompson’s life didn’t know was that he had keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease.

“I couldn’t read more than 20 minutes without getting a headache,” he said. “I knew I wouldn’t survive law school.”

His last six months of college, he did an internship that led to a job at the Tropicana Hotel-Casino.

The idea of law school kept popping up.

Five years later, Thompson underwent surgery to correct the disease, which involved cornea transplants.

That corrected his vision and made law school a viable option.

“My professor was mad when he found out,” he recalled. “He kept telling me, ‘You should have said something. We could have helped.’ ”

After graduating from the University of California, San Diego, Thompson returned to Las Vegas to work for attorney Glen Lerner.

“I got thrown into the fire with criminal law,” he said.

Three months later, which Thompson equates to years of experience in normal settings, he parted ways with the firm and opened his own practice in 1996.

In 2010, he applied to be an alternative judge for the city of Las Vegas, filling in at various departments.

In 2012, he joined the law offices of Chasey Honodel with the idea that if he ran for judge, at least his clients would be taken care of.

“And if I don’t win, I like the firm I am at,” he said.

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 702-387-5201.