Editorial: Follow the high court example

Monday, June 10, 2002 | 9:02 a.m.

Clark County and the city of Las Vegas have no formal process for appointing justices of the peace and municipal judges, who preside over arraignments, preliminary hearings and lower-level cases. At the county, the opening created by a justice of the peace who leaves before his term expires is filled by the County Commission on the recommendation of the commissioner who oversees that district. At the city, staff simply forwards applications to the City Council. Both systems lack a peer review component to assure the appointee's qualifications.

The county is attempting to formalize its process in appointing judges when vacancies arise. It wants to follow the state's lead by creating a five-member selection committee consisting of three attorneys chosen by the Clark County Bar Association, one attorney chosen by the State Bar and one citizen chosen by the County Commission. So far so good. Unfortunately, when the County Commission discussed the idea last week, it got bogged down over the question of whether to mandate a particular racial makeup of the committee.

The state of Nevada has a system for appointing judges to District Courts and to the Supreme Court that has worked pretty well over the years in respect to both quality and diversity. Clark County and city governments that do not have a formal selection process should adopt a system patterned on the Supreme Court's Commission on Judicial Selection. This commission convenes whenever there is an opening on the high court or District Court. There are seven permanent members -- three people who are not attorneys chosen by the governor, three attorneys chosen by the State Bar Association, and either the chief justice of the Supreme Court or an associate justice. Two additional members are chosen if the position to be filled is for District Court -- the governor appoints a lay person and the State Bar appoints an attorney, each from the respective district. The commission forwards three names to the governor, who chooses one.

When the County Commission members next discuss the issue June 19, we hope they will have had a chance to review the state selection method. No one has ever said that's not a fair system, even though the governor and the Bar Association are not bound by specific mandates other than the quality and qualifications of the appointees.