Bell wants District Court judgeship

Kim Smith

Monday, March 25, 2002 | 9:23 a.m.

Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell has decided he wants to wear the robes of a District Court judge.

Bell, who announced last year he will not run for a third term as district attorney, said that he intends to seek the District Court position that will be vacated by Mark Gibbons, who is running for the Nevada Supreme Court.

"I'm not ready for retirement," Bell said. "I believe I still have something to contribute and working in the criminal justice system is what I know best and where I think I can make the best contribution."

A trial attorney for 32 years, Bell said he has spent time as a mental commitment judge, a small claims judge, a North Las Vegas municipal judge, a hearing master in coroner inquest cases and in juvenile court.

Bell handled the successful prosecutions of Jeremy Strohmeyer, who was convicted of murdering 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson at a Primm casino, and Metro Police officer Ron Mortensen, who participated in the fatal drive-by shooting of Daniel Mendoza, 21. He also handled the case of Zane Floyd, who shot and killed four people in a Las Vegas grocery story after sexually assaulting an exotic dancer.