Applicants sought to replace judge departing for TV show

By Steve Kanigher

Friday, June 17, 2011 | 7:33 p.m.

The Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection is seeking applicants to replace Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass, who resigned effective last week for a role on a nationally syndicated court television program.

Glass is replacing Nancy Grace on the program “Swift Justice.”

Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Douglas said today that applications for the vacancy will be accepted by the commission until 5 p.m. July 22. The appointment process is open to all Nevada attorneys with at least 10 years of legal experience, including at least two years in Nevada.

Applications must be submitted in hard copy to the Administrative Office of the Courts in Las Vegas. The application is available on the Supreme Court website.

The public will be able to view the applications, with the exceptions of medical records and personal identification information, on the Supreme Court website. Also remaining confidential will be letters of comment solicited about the candidates and letters of reference, to ensure the authors can be candid.

After all applications are submitted, the commission will conduct background investigations and interview each of the candidates. Gov. Brian Sandoval will make the appointment from among three finalists selected by the commission.

Interviews are tentatively scheduled for Aug. 30 and 31 at the Nevada Supreme Court on the 17th floor of the Regional Justice Center downtown.

Whoever is appointed must run in the 2012 election and win to retain the seat.

As has been the rule since 2007, the commission’s interviews and the deliberation process will be open to the public.

After the governor receives the names of the three finalists, there is no time limit exists for him to make his appointment. But if an appointment is not made within 30 days, the governor cannot make any other appointments to public offices.

The commission is composed of seven permanent members, including 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 occurs — a non-attorney by the governor and an attorney by the State Bar — bringing the commission membership to nine.

For further information, contact commission staff member Myrna Byrd at 486-3201.