Saturday, July 23, 2011 | 1:55 a.m.
Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass presides over drug court at the Regional Justice Center Wednesday, May 25, 2011. Glass announced that she will resign from the bench to host the the CBS "Swift Justice" television program.
The Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection has received applications from 16 attorneys seeking to fill the Department 5 vacancy in Clark County District Court, Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Douglas said.
The seat became vacant with the departure of Judge Jackie Glass, who resigned to take over as host of the nationally syndicated court television program “Swift Justice.”
Applicants must be Nevada attorneys with at least 10 years of legal experience, and at least two of those years in the state.
The applicants are:
• Caren Cafferata-Jenkins, 52, Carson City, Nevada Commission on Ethics.
• Lucinda Coumou, 48, Las Vegas, Clark County chief deputy district attorney.
• Michael Davidson, 57, Las Vegas, with Kolesar & Leatham.
• Kerry Earley, 59, Las Vegas, with Richard Harris Law Firm.
• Carolyn Ellsworth, 56, Las Vegas, Nevada Secretary of State’s Office.
• Adriana Escobar, 52, Las Vegas, Attorney General’s Office, Fraud Unit.
• Michael Federico, 40, Las Vegas, with Olson, Cannon, Gormley & Desruisseaux.
• Craig Friedberg, 53, Las Vegas, attorney in private practice.
• Bruce Gale, 56, Las Vegas, attorney in private practice.
• Martin Hart, 47, Las Vegas, law offices of Martin Hart.
• Russell Marsh, 49, Henderson, United States Attorney’s Office.
• Troy Peyton, 51, Las Vegas, law office of Troy E. Peyton.
• Gary Pulliam, 57, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Municipal Court.
• Marc Risman, 56, Henderson, law offices of Marc Risman.
• David Rivers, 64, Las Vegas, with Leavitt, Sully & Rivers
• Bernard Zadrowski, 45, Las Vegas, Clark County chief deputy district attorney.
The commission will conduct background investigations, accept written public comment and interview each of the candidates. The commission will then deliberate and nominate three finalists from which Gov. Brian Sandoval will make his appointment.
Interviews are scheduled to be conducted Aug. 30 and 31 at the Supreme Court’s Las Vegas facility on the 17th floor of the Regional Justice Center.
Public comment will also be received by the commission that morning, prior to the interviews.
The appointed judge must run and win in the 2012 election to retain the seat.
As has been the rule since 2007, the Commission’s process will be open to the public. Applications are being posted on the Supreme Court website, although some personal information may remain confidential. The website is www.nevadajudiciary.us. The public may attend the interviews and deliberations.
After receiving the names of the three finalists, there is no time limit for the governor to make his appointment. But if an appointment is not made within 30 days following submission of names by the commission, the governor may make no other appointments to public office.
The commission invites public comments about the qualifications of the applicants and requests that such comments be submitted in writing to: Commission Secretary, Robin Sweet, Administrative Office of the Courts, Supreme Court Building, 201 South Carson St., Suite 250, Carson City, Nevada 89701.
Comments should be submitted by Aug. 5. All written comments and letters of reference are kept confidential to ensure the authors can be candid.
The commission is composed of seven permanent members — the Supreme Court chief justice, three non-attorneys appointed by the governor and three attorneys appointed by the State Bar of Nevada. Neither the governor nor the Bar may appoint more than two permanent members from the same political party and cannot appoint two members from the same county.
For District Court vacancies, two temporary members are appointed from the judicial district where the vacancy occurred — a non-attorney by the governor and an attorney by the State Bar — bringing the commission membership to nine.
For the current vacancy, Sandoval has appointed James Campos, director of government relations and renewable energy initiatives for the College of Southern Nevada. He is former commissioner of the Nevada Consumer Affairs Division.
The State Bar of Nevada appointed Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Rutledge.
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