Department Y

Judge Stephanie Charter earned her undergraduate degree with honors from South Dakota State University in 1988. Stephanie was a member of the Pi Gamma Mu Social Sciences Honor Society. Stephanie earned her Juris Doctorate from Creighton University School of Law in 1991 where she was a member of the International Moot Court Board. Stephanie is admitted to the Nevada, California, Arizona, and Utah State Bars.

Stephanie worked for several years as a civil litigator before taking a case pro bono for the then new Children’s Attorney’s Project at Clark County Legal Services (now LACSN). Stephanie joined CCLS as a full time children’s attorney where she represented child victims of abuse and neglect. She started the Nevada Chapter of the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) for which she also presented at annual conferences on topics related to best practices for representation of youth. Stephanie worked as a Deputy District Attorney in Clark and Washoe Counties where she was assigned to the child abuse and neglect track. Stephanie volunteered as a judge with the Truancy Diversion Program (TDP) for several years while she was with the Clark County District Attorney’s office. Stephanie spearheaded the successful effort to start the TDP program with the Washoe County School District while she was with the District Attorney’s office in Reno.

Stephanie was elected to the Family Division, Department Y, in 2020. She is currently assigned to hear child abuse and neglect cases. In addition to her daily calendar, Stephanie started a Panel Review for youth with a permanency goal of Other Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (OPPLA). The Panel includes former foster care youth, professionals associated with UNLV or the Nevada System of Higher Education, mental health professionals, and professionals with the Culinary Academy. The Panel meets once a month in person in Courtroom 8 and sits down with the youth to provide the youth with guidance on higher education, trade schools, employment opportunities, financial aid, and other decisions the youth will be facing as the youth exists formal foster care. Stephanie also holds a weekly review for children who are placed in Child Haven, a congregate care facility. Stephanie and representatives from the Department of Family Services, the District Attorney’s Office, the Children’s Attorney’s Project, and parents and their attorneys meet with the child informally in Courtroom 8. The team discusses foster, relative, and fictive kin placement options.

Stephanie serves on several committees related to child welfare, including: the Citizens Advisory Committee, the Nevada Children’s Commission on Child Welfare, the Court Improvement Project (CIP) Select Committee, the Court Improvement Council (CIC), and the JCAMP (Judicial, Court, and Attorneys Measure of Performance) Committee.