Candidates considered for three Clark County judicial vacancies

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Feb. 16, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

Gov. Kenny Guinn will soon have the chance to appoint judges.

A selection panel is expected to recommend candidates by the end of the week to fill three judicial vacancies in Clark County -- two in District Court, one in Family Court -- that resulted from the November elections.

The Nevada Judicial Selection Commission today will conclude interviews of candidates for the vacancy in Family Court that resulted when Judge Gary Redmon won election to a newly created seat on District Court.

Both Family Court and District Court are judgeships of the 8th Judicial District. Family Court judges are limited to divorces, custody disputes and other family-oriented matters. District Court judges hear all other civil and criminal cases.

The commission began interviewing the 23 applicants on Monday, although it was a holiday.

Originally it was announced that 22 attorneys had applied for the Family Court vacancy, but a 23rd lawyer, Althea Gilkey, will also be interviewed because her application was misplaced in the state's mailroom.

Nineteen applicants for two District Court judgeships will be interviewed today and Wednesday in the first step of the process to replace District Judges Nancy Becker and Myron Leavitt, who were elected to new seats on the Nevada Supreme Court.

For each vacancy, the commission will submit the names of three finalists to Guinn, who will have 30 days to make his final choices. Since most of the 19 applicants for the two civil-criminal vacancies applied for both seats, the finalists could be the same for each seat.

Four lawyers applied for both District Court and the Family Court positions: Robert Dorsey, 68; Sandra Pomrenze, 49; Kevin Utterback, 47; and Michael Van, 40, all in private practice in Las Vegas.

Former District Judge Don Chairez applied only for Becker's vacancy in District Court. He was a district judge but quit in the summer to run for Congress on the Republican ticket. He was defeated by Democrat Shelley Berkley.

The others who applied for the District Court judgeships are William Freedman, 70, a private attorney; Stephen L. George, 35, deputy city attorney in Las Vegas; Joseph W. Houston II, 52, a private attorney; Thomas L. Leen, 56, legal consultant to the Clark County district attorney's office; James C. Mahan, 55, a private attorney; and Victor Miller, 45, justice of the peace and municipal judge in Boulder City.

Others applying for both District Court seats are E. Leif Reid, 30, assistant U.S. attorney; Abbi Silver, 34, chief deputy district attorney; Melodie Swanson, 41, a private attorney; Las Vegas Municipal Judge Valorie Vega, 43; and Laurence J. Weinsteen, 31, a private attorney.

Those applying only for Leavitt's seat are Allan Earl, 57, a private attorney; former District Attorney George Holt, 62; and Mark Wood, 45, deputy district attorney in Clark County.

Holt has also submitted an application to be considered for the Family Court vacancy.

Others applying for the Family Court vacancy are Karl Armstrong, 41, of the University and Community College System of Nevada; Sylvia Beller, 45, juvenile referee for the Family Court; Jennifer Henry, 32, guardianship-discovery commissioner for the District Court; and private attorneys Kendal Sue Bird, 34; Lona Groover, 37; Donald Haight, 50; and Lizzie Hatcher, 44.

Others seeking the job on the Family Court are Elizabeth Kolkoski, 55, elder rights attorneys for the state Division of Aging; and private attorneys Charles Hoskin, 35; John Howard, 51; Robert Kurth Jr., 31; Thomas Kurtz, 47; Stephen Minagil, 47; Gayle Nathan, 45; Randall Pike, 43; Thomas Arthur Ritchie Jr., 36; and Michael Root, 42.

Houston, Mahan, Pomrenze, Swanson, Groover, Haight and Pike all were defeated in election bids for the court last year.

Applicants have submitted answers to 48 questions on their education, law practice, business and community involvement, professional and personal conduct and health.