Chuck Short

Steve Marcus

Chuck Short, the Clark County court system’s executive officer, says farewell with a hug for Sherry Robinson at the Regional Justice Center on Friday. Short, who has run the courthouse for 15 years, is retiring at the end of August. Among his accomplishments, he cites the courts’ technological advances.

By Jeff German

Monday, Aug. 18, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Chuck Short retires Aug. 29 after 15 years as the county court system’s executive officer. He offered the Sun some parting thoughts.

How would you describe the state of our justice system?

We’re evolving from a small-town system into a major metropolitan system. We still have elements of the Wild West.

Judges can become cozy with lawyers because they solicit campaign contributions from them to get reelected. Should we move to a system of appointing judges?

The system is awkward. When a judge is accepting money from one law firm, there’s doubt in your mind about whether that judge can be fair. You’re creating doubt that undermines public trust.

I’m not sure an appointed system will be significantly better. I’d rather see campaign reform, putting contributions into a trust or going to publicly financed campaigns.

The Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission is criticized for conducting too much business in secret. What could make the process more transparent?

If you’re going to suspend a judge, it should be at a public hearing. People filing complaints against judges should be informed when a case is resolved. I think you’ll see a package of reforms on the Judicial Discipline Commission at the Legislature next year. I hope the Legislature will give the commission more money to investigate complaints. The judiciary has grown over the years but we have not kept up with the disciplinary side.

The $185 million Regional Justice Center, which opened in October 2005, has some major flaws. Did the taxpayers get a good deal?

When you look at the old court facilities and how decentralized they were, I think the citizens are better served. If we didn’t have this building, we would be renting space in various areas of downtown, trying to shove courtrooms into facilities designed for offices.

What is you’re biggest accomplishment?

Modernization. We likely are the most technologically advanced state court in the country, and we will be even more advanced when our new case management system comes online.

Your biggest disappointment?

I wish the County Commission had let us devise a financial plan for the next facilities we’re going to need. Our master plan has been on the shelf since it was presented to the commission in March of 2006.

If we have 3 million people by 2020, we’ll need possibly another 1 million square feet of space.