Speaker Biography The Honorable Melissa Saragosa
Chief Judge Melissa Saragosa received her bachelor’s degree from the University of San Diego in 1990. She continued her education at the University of San Diego School of Law, earning her J.D. in 1993. In March 1994, Judge Saragosa was selected as a direct appointee to the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps. After two years prosecuting cases on the circuit, Judge Saragosa separated from active duty and joined the reserve corps.
In 2000, Judge Saragosa relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada temporarily filling the Chief of Military Justice vacancy at Nellis Air Force Base created by the deployment of the active duty member. As a reservist, she worked as a Reserve Instructor with the Civil Division of the Air Force Judge Advocate General School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. From there, she served as a reserve military appellate judge for the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Following that assignment, she was assigned to Global Strike Command, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana as the Reserve Coordinator and Assistant Staff Judge Advocate. In 2018, she was reassigned as the Senior Individual Mobilization Augmentee to the Director of Air Force Judiciary at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. She currently holds the rank of Colonel and serves as Senior Individual Mobilization Augmentee to the Command Counsel, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
In September 2000, she began working for the Clark County District Attorney’s Office in her civilian capacity. In February 2006, she was appointed as the chief deputy district attorney of recruiting and training. She also created a formal training program for new deputy district attorneys and supervised the summer externship program.
In December 2006, Judge Saragosa was appointed by the Clark County Commissioners to fill a vacancy in Justice Court Department 4. She took the bench on January 8, 2007. In 2009, Judge Saragosa was one of only two Judges presiding over the entire civil docket, including eviction actions, of the Las Vegas Justice Court. In January 2011, Judge Saragosa developed and presided over Nevada’s first Domestic Violence Court. In 2013, Judge Saragosa returned to an all-civil docket where she developed a partnership with the Community Oriented Policing Division of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Through this partnership, Judge Saragosa has been very active in educating the community on Landlord/Tenant laws. From January 2015 to December 2016, Judge Saragosa presided over a criminal docket and was appointed by the Chief Judge as the Presiding Judge over Veterans Treatment Court and the Civil Division. As of January 2017, Judge Saragosa returned once again to an all civil docket.
Judge Saragosa serves as the Chairman of the Las Vegas Justice Court’s Legislative committee, sits on the Las Vegas Justice Court’s Rules committee and was appointed as a member of the State of Nevada Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Committee for Evidence-Based Pretrial Release. Judge Saragosa was selected as the Nevada Judges of Limited Jurisdiction Judge of the Year for 2019. Judge Saragosa is admitted to practice law in Nevada and Maryland.