Commission on Judicial Selection Extends Application Deadline and Adds a Fourth Vacancy for the Clark County District Court

December 19, 2022

Justice Lidia Stiglich announced this afternoon the Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection took action today to address the urgent need to have sufficient qualified applicants to fill each of four vacancies on the 8th Judicial District’s bench. Justice Stiglich stated “We had nine applications for three vacancies and the Commission voted to extend the application period to address the lack of response thus far by the Bar.”

The Commission on Judicial Selection voted to extend the deadline for vacancies in the Clark County District Court Departments 7, C, and N and also add Department 29 to the January 18, 2023 deadline. The Department 7 vacancy comes from the election of the Honorable Linda Bell to Supreme Court Seat A. The Department 29 vacancy was announced on Friday, December 15, 2022 and was a late addition to this nomination process. Department 29 will become vacant with the retirement of the Honorable David Jones in mid-January 2023. The Department C vacancy is through the resignation of the Honorable Rebecca Burton at the end of this month. The Department N vacancy came with the passing of the Honorable Mathew Harter in November of this year.

Nevada attorneys with 10 years of legal experience, which includes two years of Nevada experience, are encouraged to apply for the opening. Interviews to fill vacancies will be scheduled in February in Las Vegas. The interviews will be streamed live online and are open to the public. After the interviews, the Commission will nominate three finalists for each vacancy to Governor-Elect Joe Lombardo.

The Commission is composed of seven permanent members – the Supreme Court Chief Justice, three non-attorneys appointed by the Governor, and three attorneys appointed by the State Bar of Nevada. Neither the Governor nor the State Bar may appoint more than two permanent members from the same political party and cannot appoint two members from the same county. For District Court vacancies, two temporary members are appointed from the judicial district where the vacancy occurs – a non-attorney by the Governor and an attorney by the State Bar – bringing the Commission membership to nine.