District Court nominees list trimmed to final four

Bill Gang

Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999 | 11:15 a.m.

A Las Vegas Municipal Court judge, a former deputy district attorney, a current deputy district attorney and a private lawyer have made the cut in their quest to fill two vacancies on the District Court bench.

The lists of finalists, culled from 19 applicants, will be forwarded by the Nevada Judicial Selection Commission to Gov. Kenny Guinn, who will have 30 days to make his choices.

The vacancies in District Court Departments 2 and 12 occurred when district judges Nancy Becker and Myron Leavitt, respectively, were elected to two newly created seats on the Nevada Supreme Court.

Municipal Judge Valorie Vega, 43, former Deputy District Attorney Thomas Leen, 56, and veteran attorney James Mahan, 55, were nominated for the Department 2 vacancy.

Leen and Mahan also made the list for Department 12. The third name on that list is Deputy District Attorney Abbi Silver, 34.

The crossover resulted because most of the 19 applicants applied for both vacancies. Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Rose said at an administrative meeting Monday that the names on the two lists could be the same.

On Tuesday, the commission nominated Juvenile Court Referee Sylvia Beller, 45, and private attorneys Randall Pike, 43, and Arthur Richie, 36, to fill a vacant Family Court seat.

More than 20 people applied for the Family Court vacancy that resulted when District Judge Gary Redmon won election to a newly created seat handling civil and criminal cases.