Not a year into his job, courts chief leaving for New York

By Jeff German

Friday, June 26, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Ed Friedland had big plans to modernize the county court system and bring the Regional Justice Center into the 21st century.

But now, after less than a year on the job as the top executive over the courts, Friedland will leave for a job as a top federal court administrator in New York City.

“It was a tough decision, but my family is back there,” Friedland says.

Since taking over last year, Friedland let some supervisors go and clamped down on widespread employee overtime during a period of economic decline. For a while courthouse marshals were unhappy about their working conditions, but that seems to have subsided.

In the end, it looks as though Friedland simply received an offer in New York that he couldn’t refuse.

Chief District Judge T. Arthur Ritchie Jr. broke the news to his fellow judges in a memo Monday, and Friedland informed his supervisors the next day.

“It’s sad to see him go,” Ritchie says. “He’s done a terrific job.”

In his memo, Ritchie added: “The reality is that our court cannot compete with the salary and benefit packages offered by state and federal organizations throughout this country. I know that Ed’s decision to take a job for better pay, with better benefits, closer to his family and home was a difficult one.”

Friedland’s departure is giving Las Vegas Justice Court — which several years ago struck an agreement with District Court to consolidate key services, such as human resources and technology — a chance to go back to having its own independent administration.

“It’s a natural time to reconsider that decision,” Chief Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman says. “Ed is going to be a tremendous loss to both of our courts.”

Zimmerman says she and her colleagues are working to determine whether it will be beneficial for Justice Court to continue working under the consolidation agreement.

Friedland is leaving at a time when District Court is working to expand its crowded specialty courts, moving forward with modernizing efforts and planning for additional courtroom space for nine new judges in 2011.

To pave the way for a smooth transition, Ritchie wasted little time naming Assistant Court Administrator Steve Grierson as acting court executive for all District Court matters. Ritchie told his fellow judges that he “strongly” recommends Grierson to succeed Friedland on a permanent basis at both District Court and Justice Court.

Grierson, who has been overseeing the clerk’s office in District Court, was a finalist for the executive’s position with Friedland last year after a nationwide search.

According to Ritchie, Grierson “understands our challenges” and is committed to dealing with them, and there is no reason for another national search.

Friedland has agreed to help with the transition as long as he’s needed over the next month.

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Prosecutors have a tougher state law to go after pimps who profit from child prostitution, and now they’ve got extra federal funding to devote more resources to the task.

The Clark County district attorney’s office is getting $210,000 in federal stimulus money to create a prosecutor’s position devoted solely to going after these panderers.

The prosecutor will work hand-in-hand with police full time, which District Attorney David Roger says should be able to take more pimps off the street.

“It’s important for prosecutors to develop a rapport with these young girls so they trust the prosecutors and are more willing to cooperate with law enforcement,” Roger says.

The Las Vegas City Council, which distributed the stimulus money, unanimously approved creating the position last month.

Funding lasts for two years, and after that, Roger hopes the position will be successful enough for him to either find more federal funding or justify the use of money from his own budget to make the position permanent.