Justice Lidia Stiglich announced Wednesday, the Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection is acting to address the urgent need to have sufficient qualified applicants to fill each of four vacancies on the Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada bench. “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,” said Justice Stiglich.

The Commission on Judicial Selection voted to extend the deadline for vacancies in District Court departments 7, C, and N. Department 29 has also been opened for application with a January 18, 2023 deadline.

Nevada attorneys with 10 years of legal experience, which includes two years of Nevada experience, are encouraged to apply for the opening. Application information is available on the Commission on Judicial Selection page https://nvcourts.gov/AOC/Templates/documents.aspx?folderID=8938. Potential applicants may direct questions to the Commission on Judicial Selection secretary through Armani Johnson via email at ajohnson@nvcourts.nv.gov or (775)-684-1710. 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. Upon completion of the interviews, the Commission will nominate three finalists for each vacancy for selection by Governor-Elect Joe Lombardo.

The department 7 vacancy comes from the election of Justice-elect Linda Marie 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 Judge David Jones in mid-January 2023. The department C vacancy is through the retirement of Judge Rebecca Burton at the end of this month. The department N vacancy came with the passing of Judge Mathew Harter in November of this year.

The Commission on Judicial Selection 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.