Committee looks at bill to change judges’ elections

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003 | 8:49 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada Supreme Court justices and district judges who didn't draw opposition for re-election raised $1.2 million in campaign funds last year, but a proposed bill could change the need for incumbents to raise that kind of money.

The Supreme Court has presented what it calls an election reform bill that would advance the filing date for office of justices and district judges from May to January.

Chief Justice Deborah Agosti, who with Justice Nancy Becker appeared before the Senate Government Affairs Committee Monday to promote Senate Bill 111, said judicial challengers often announce their plans to run at the beginning of the year but they don't say which judge they intend to run against until May.

"That puts all the judges in the position of going out and raise money," she told the committee.

The bill would change the filing period for judicial candidates to the two weeks from mid-January to the end of the month. Other political candidates would continue to file during a two-week period in May.

Becker said under the current system the judges don't know if they will have opposition until May, so they must start their fund-raising campaign at the beginning of the year to ensure they have enough.

The justices said if this bill is passed the Supreme Court will revise the Judicial Canons to prohibit any judicial candidate from collecting campaign money until after the close of filing in January.

That would mean judges who are unopposed could concentrate on their jobs instead of having to mount a fund-raising campaign, not knowing if they will have a contest.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas said this was a good idea. She said she would like to look at whether the same restrictions could be imposed on local political races as well.

The committee did not take any action on the bill.