Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Halverson loses bid to stay on bench

Updated Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008 | 12:40 a.m.

Click to enlarge photo

Elizabeth Halverson

Elizabeth Halverson has been tossed off the bench. Not by state judicial officers, but by voters.

The embattled district court judge who has been banned indefinitely from the courthouse didn't win re-election Tuesday night. With all precincts reporting, Halverson had just 9.7 percent of the vote.

Halverson, who uses a motorized scooter to get around, was a distant third in Tuesday’s primary against challengers Jason Landess and Stefaney Miley. Miley’s billboards have been a ubiquitous presence across the valley.

Miley and Landess will face off in November’s general election. In Nevada, the top two vote-getters in judicial races move on to the general election in November. Miley had 60 percent of the vote to Landess' 30.4 percent.

The Nevada Judicial Discipline Committee spent much of last week hearing testimony in Halverson’s bid to return to her courtroom -– but the hearing was halted Friday when she had a hypoglycemic attack. The hearing aired nationally on TruTV.

Halverson’s former bailiff, Johnie Jordan, testified that she forced him to essentially be her servant. Amid tears last week, Jordan alleged that Halverson made him rub her feet, among other subservient tasks.

There were other incidents and issues.

A computer technician last year alleged that Halverson hired him to retrieve a missing file on his computer, but upon his arrival at the Regional Justice Center, instructed him to hack into the e-mails of employees she was at odds with, as the Sun reported in January. The technician said he refused, then reported her to the discipline commission.

Her attorney at the time denied the allegation.

When Halverson did preside over cases, she wasn’t a favorite among the valley’s lawyers. In a six-month period last year, judicial officials found 134 instances of attorneys asking to move their cases from Halverson’s courtroom.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy