JUSTICE OF THE PEACE

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 | 1:13 a.m.

The race between incumbent Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron and pro-tempore justice Jim Gubler in Department 7 could be tight.

Bennett-Haron received 41 percent of the primary vote, and Gubler captured 39 percent.

Vying for the newly created Department 9 seat is Clark County Deputy District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski and a former deputy district attorney, Joe Bonaventure.

Tony Abbantengelo, James Bixler and Nancy Oesterle ran unopposed in the primary and all return to office.

Department 7

Bennett-Haron, a former legal counsel for the Las Vegas Housing Authority before being appointed to her seat in 2002, is being criticized after sitting in at a meeting in which city officials were deciding the fate of an house owned by her father.

Bennett-Haron has said previously that she was simply taking notes and did not interfere with the city's process.

Prosecutors also criticized her earlier this year for two murder cases in which she set bail they considered too low. She did not return the Sun questionnaire.

Gubler, 56, said he thinks bail for people accused of violent crimes should reflect the seriousness of the offense, and he plans to support law enforcement in its bail requests.

He listed multiple law enforcement agency endorsements.

Department 9

In the primary Bonaventure, 28, grabbed 43.8 percent of the vote. Zadrowski, 38, finished second with 13 percent.

The candidates say that improving the court's efficiency to reduce backlogged cases is the most important issue.

Named for his father, the District Court judge who has presided in several high-profile cases, Bonaventure has been criticized for not distinguishing himself from his father in ads.

Bonaventure, an alumnus of the charter class of the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV, was a prosecutor in the Clark County criminal division for 14 months. He entered private practice earlier this year at Bonaventure & Goldstein.

He pointed out that he is a lifelong resident of Las Vegas and said he would bring fairness, efficiency and consistency to the bench.

Zadrowski touted his experience in prosecuting hundreds of cases in Justice Court, including murders, robberies, sexual assaults and property crimes.

He also works at the Community College of Southern Nevada as an adjunct professor of criminal law.

Zadrowski received his law degree from the University of Denver and his bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

He said his experience as a prosecutor has taught him to take seriously his ethical obligation to seek justice, and added he would work hard to see that cases are handled fairly and quickly.