Courts in Nevada

More information on Nevada's state courts:

Selection methods
Elections
Salaries
Federal courts

In Nevada, there is one federal district court, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

* Federal courts
* State supreme court
* State court of appeals
* Trial courts

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Nevada's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Nevada's state court system.

## Contents

* 1 Judicial selection process
* 2 Federal courts
* 2.1 Active judges
* 2.2 Judicial selection
* 2.3 Bankruptcy courts
* 3 State supreme court
* 4 State court of appeals
* 5 Trial courts
* 5.1 Nevada District Courts
* 5.1.1 Family Divisions
* 5.2 Nevada Justice Courts
* 5.3 Nevada Municipal Courts
* 6 In other states
* 7 See also
* 8 External links
* 9 Footnotes

## Judicial selection process[edit]

Nevada state supreme court Justices are elected to six-year terms in nonpartisan elections. The governor fills vacancies by appointment.[1][2]

The Nevada Court of Appeals at its creation consisted of three judges who were nominated by the judicial selection commission and selected by the governor. These judges serve an initial two-year term and then must stand for re-election if they wish to continue to serve. After the initial term of the first judges, judges are chosen by election. A full term on the court is six years.[3]

To read more about judicial elections in Nevada, click here.

## Federal courts[edit]

The federal district court in Nevada is the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.

Appeals from these courts go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

### Active judges[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

Gloria M. Navarro

Barack Obama (D)

|  May 6, 2010 -  |

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1989

Arizona State University Law School, 1992

Miranda Du

Barack Obama (D)

|  March 30, 2012 -  |

University of California, Davis, 1991

University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, 1994

Andrew Gordon

Barack Obama (D)

|  March 12, 2013 -  |

Claremont McKenna College, 1984

Harvard Law, 1987

Jennifer Dorsey

Barack Obama (D)

|  July 9, 2013 -  |

University of Nevadas, Las Vegas, 1994

Pepperdine University Law, 1997

Richard Franklin Boulware II

Barack Obama (D)

|  June 10, 2014 -  |

Harvard, 1993

Columbia Law School, 2002

Anne Rachel Traum

Joe Biden (D)

|  April 7, 2022 -  |

Brown University, 1991

University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1996

Cristina Silva

Joe Biden (D)

|  April 7, 2022 -  |

Wellesley College, 2001

American University, Washington College of Law, 2007

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

* Democrat appointed: 7
* Republican appointed: 0

### Judicial selection[edit]

Judges who sit on the federal district courts are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. These judges serve life terms. To read more about the judges on these courts, click here.

### Bankruptcy courts[edit]

There is one federal bankruptcy court in Nevada. This court has subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal bankruptcy court in Nevada is:

* The District of Nevada Bankruptcy Court

## State supreme court[edit]

See also: Nevada Supreme Court

The Nevada Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships.[4]

The following judges sit on the court:

Office | Name | Party | Date assumed office

|
|
|

Nevada Supreme Court Seat A | Linda M. Bell | Nonpartisan | January 2, 2023
Nevada Supreme Court Seat B | Kris Pickering | Nonpartisan | 2009
Nevada Supreme Court Seat C | Elissa Cadish | Nonpartisan | 2019
Nevada Supreme Court Seat D | Douglas Herndon | Nonpartisan | January 4, 2021
Nevada Supreme Court Seat E | Ron Parraguirre | Nonpartisan | January 3, 2005
Nevada Supreme Court Seat F | Patricia Lee | Nonpartisan | November 21, 2022
Nevada Supreme Court Seat G | Lidia Stiglich | Nonpartisan | December 5, 2016

## State court of appeals[edit]

See also: Nevada Court of Appeals

The Nevada Court of Appeals was created by a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that was approved by voters in the general election on November 4, 2014. The new court's start date was set for January 1, 2015.[5]

For more information, see: Nevada Creation of a State Intermediate Appellate Court, Question 1 (2014)

The following judges sit on the court:

Judge | Tenure | Appointed By

|
|

Michael P. Gibbons

January 5, 2015 - Present

Brian Sandoval

Bonnie Bulla

March 4, 2019 - Present

Steve Sisolak

Deborah Westbrook

January 2, 2023 - Present

## Trial courts[edit]

### Nevada District Courts[edit]

See also: Nevada District Courts

The district courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction. They have general jurisdiction over all legal disputes and sometimes hear appeals from the justice and municipal courts.[1]

District court judges may also preside over specialty court cases related to felony and gross misdemeanor offenses. Specialty courts are therapeutic court programs addressing substance abuse and mental illness as contributors to criminal offenses.[6][7]

#### Family Divisions[edit]

The Second and Eighth Districts in Washoe and Clark counties, respectively, have a family division. These divisions specialize in family-related issues such as divorce, child custody, and adoption.[8]

### Nevada Justice Courts[edit]

See also: Nevada Justice Courts

The justice courts courts deal with cases involving misdemeanors, traffic violations, small claims cases, evictions and other civil cases less than $15,000. They may hold preliminary hearings for the district courts, as well.[1] Justice court judges may also preside over community court hearings, which handle misdemeanor criminal cases for eligible defendants.[6][7]

Justice court judges may also preside over specialty court cases related to misdemeanor offenses. Specialty courts are therapeutic court programs addressing substance abuse and mental illness as contributors to criminal offenses.[6][7]

### Nevada Municipal Courts[edit]

See also: Nevada Municipal Courts

The municipal courts deal with traffic and city ordinance violations.[1] Municipal court judges may also preside over community court hearings, which handle misdemeanor criminal cases for eligible defendants.[6][7]

Municipal court judges may also preside over specialty court cases related to misdemeanor offenses. Specialty courts are therapeutic court programs addressing substance abuse and mental illness as contributors to criminal offenses.[6][7]

## In other states[edit]

Click the map below to explore the court structure in other states.

Choose your state...AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington, D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

http://ballotpedia.org/Courts_in_STATE

## See also[edit]

* Judicial selection in Nevada
* Nevada judicial elections
* Nevada

## External links[edit]

* Search Google News for this topic
* The Nevada Judiciary

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Nevada Judiciary, "About the Nevada Judiciary," archived December 20, 2022
2. ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Nevada," archived October 6, 2014
3. ↑ Nevada Legislature, "The Constitution of the State of Nevada, Article 6, Section 3A," accessed March 4, 2021
4. ↑ Nevada Judiciary, "Overview of the Supreme Court," archived October 12, 2009
5. ↑ Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Nevada appeals court draws 36 applicants," November 12, 2014
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Nevada Courts, "Media contact," accessed June 2, 2023
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Ballotpedia staff, Email communication with Nevada Courts press office, May 31, 2023
8. ↑ Nevada Judiciary, "District Courts," archived December 22, 2022

Nevada courts

* * *

Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Nevada • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Nevada

State courts:

Nevada Supreme Court • Nevada Court of Appeals • Nevada District Courts • Nevada Justice Courts • Nevada Municipal Courts • Clark County Family Court, Nevada

State resources:

Courts in Nevada • Nevada judicial elections • Judicial selection in Nevada

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