Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 | 9:04 a.m.
In the coming election's only contested race for a seat on the Las Vegas Municipal Court bench, the two candidates are already taking swings at each other's records.
Challenger Mat Harter, who is making his fifth run for judge, has criticized a 2004 pay raise that went to all city judges and promised to give the raise, worth about $11,000 a year, to charity if elected.
Also, Harter accused incumbent Department 5 Judge Cedric Kerns of having a poor attendance record three years ago, and failing to report campaign donations and of improperly taking payments from his campaign account in past years, allegations that Kerns said were unfounded.
Harter also criticized Kerns for taking campaign contributions from strip club owners in 2001.
Meanwhile, Kerns' campaign pointed out that Harter is being sued for legal malpractice.
"The voters have a choice between one of the highest-rated judges and a lawyer who has been sued for legal malpractice," Kerns said.
Harter is being sued by a woman who claims Harter did not get her a fair settlement for one automobile accident she was involved in, and missed a deadline to file a lawsuit regarding another accident.
Harter said he could not speak about the specifics of the pending case.
"I've been in private practice for twice as long as Judge Kerns was, and when you've been in private practice for more than 10 years this is bound to happen," said Harter, 38, who specializes in family law such as divorces.
Kerns, 39 and seeking his third term, said he was in private practice for five years before winning his 1997 election, and said he was not sued for legal malpractice.
Kerns also attempted to explain Harter's other accusations.
In a prepared statement distributed to the media, Harter said Kerns "had the highest absentee rate in 2002 missing 30 days of work."
But Kerns and Municipal Court Administrator Jim Carmany said Harter's accusation is not accurate.
Carmany and Kerns said that in 2002 the court did not track the number of days judges were absent, but instead the number of days an alternate judge was called in to cover their court. They said that in Kerns' case there were a number of days in 2002 when an alternate judge covered his court because he was working in another courtroom covering traffic court.
Kerns also defended his campaign reports from past elections. Harter questioned $34,165 in donations Kerns received in 1997, and the more than $17,000 Kerns and his wife received from the campaign in 2001.
Kerns said that in 1997 he received roughly $34,000 in contributions that came to him in donations of $100 or less -- amounts he said did not require disclosure of the donors.
Kerns said that because he was running against an incumbent judge then, many attorneys who supported him were leery of attaching their name to a challenger's campaign, and so instead gave him $100 donations.
The judge also said that in 1997 he loaned his campaign about $70,000. Then in 2001, he took about $17,000 from his campaign to pay part of that money back, he said.
"My campaign still owes me about $50,000," Kerns said.
Kerns and Harter disagreed over whether election law allows one to carry a debt from one campaign to the next. But secretary of state's office spokesman Steve George said Wednesday that while he could not talk about a specific race, in general elected officials are allowed to use campaign funds to pay off debts from previous campaigns.
Harter was also critical of Kerns for taking campaign contributions from the owners of the Crazy Horse Too and Olympic Garden strip clubs. Harter said he would not take any campaign money from strip club owners.
Kerns said there was nothing wrong with his taking campaign donations from legitimate businesses and said he would continue to do so. But Kerns added he would not take any money from a business that is under investigation as the Crazy Horse Too is.
Kerns also said he thinks the municipal judges are not overpaid, and said it would not be appropriate to ask the City Council to take back the raise.
In July, the City Council raised the city judges' annual salaries from $116,985 to $128,098.
Harter said the raises were given primarily because council members were told the Las Vegas judges had the highest caseloads, which Harter said was incorrect.
But Carmany said the council was not told the city judges have the highest caseloads in the area, but instead was told how much the caseload had increased during the 12 years since the city added another judge to the court.
Harter said he was not at the meeting, but relied on media accounts of what happened during that salary discussion.
Kerns and Harter will face off in the April 5 primary. Early voting is from March 19 to April 1. Because they are the only two candidates, their race will be decided in the primary.
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