Former NLV judge, mayor Daines dies at 78

Jeffrey Libby

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2000 | 11:01 a.m.

Raymond "Judge" Daines, known in North Las Vegas for his sometimes harsh, unpredictable sentences as a judge and for his late-night council meetings during his stint as mayor from 1976 to 1981, died Monday in a local hospital. He was 78.

"There were three ways of doing things in his courtroom," said Theron Goynes, 71, a North Las Vegas councilman in the early 1980s. "The right way, the wrong way and Daines' way. And if it was the wrong way, certainly you were going to get a sermon on the Daines way."

In 1971 that meant the choice between 20 days in jail or 10 lashes and a $100 fine for a man who had abused his child.

In another instance that same year, Daines gave a traffic offender 10 days in jail for not properly tucking in his shirt.

Daines, who served as Municipal Court judge from 1967 to 1976 despite having no law degree, hauled yet another man into court for scrawling an angry message on the $2 payment for a parking ticket.

Daines' transition from judge to mayor was no less sensational. Accusing then-Mayor Bud Cleland of running a "regime" clouded by conflicts of interest, Daines orchestrated the first successful recall effort in Southern Nevada in 1976.

Not only did he bring down Cleland, but he helped orchestrate the demise of two other councilmen who consistently voted with Cleland's interests.

Within a month of his tenure as mayor, Daines fired six department heads and 10 other city hall employees. He justified the bloodletting in the name of fiscal reform.

In 1981 Daines shifted gears, attempting to unseat Municipal Court Judge Gary Davis.

It was the first of three unsuccessful bids, and each provided plenty of fodder for reporters and residents of the Las Vegas Valley.

Daines had his name printed as Ray "Judge" Daines, saying that many still called him Judge from the old days.

He also put out fliers when a man given a two-day furlough by Davis murdered the mother of an ex-girlfriend with a hammer.

Daines accused Davis of being soft on crime. Davis said Daines was just looking for a job.

As tough as he was in the public arena, Goynes said, Daines was a kind man in person.

"He was a very forceful-minded person, but he was mild-mannered when it came to trusting a human being," he said.

"He had some faults, but his deeds outweighed his faults."

Daines arrived from Ohio in 1955 as a building contractor and opened an appliance shop. He served as a volunteer firefighter and a policeman for seven years.

He is survived by his wife Jean Daines of Las Vegas; sons Russ Daines of North Las Vegas and Mel Daines of Mount Charleston, and daughters Marcia Daines and Marty Nash, both of North Las Vegas; and brother Russ Daines of New Mexico and sisters Betty Weekly and Clara Dean, both of Ohio. He is also survived by eight grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.

Services at Desert Memorial will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Nevada or the Shriners Burn Center.