Court puts case focusing on candidate’s experience on fast track

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 | 9:43 a.m.

CARSON CITY – To beat election deadlines, the Supreme Court has ordered briefs in the appeal of Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Candidate Amber L. Candelaria to be filed within the next eight days.

Printing of absentee ballots starts April 16. The court said that after the final brief is submitted April 8, it will make its decision without hearing oral arguments.

Clark County District Judge James Bixler ruled earlier this month that Candelaria does not qualify for the office on grounds she has not been licensed as an attorney for five years.

Her opponents say Candelaria was admitted to practice law in Nevada in October 2006 and at the time of the election this November will have accumulated only four years experience.

The issue is the interpretation of the law. Candelaria believes she should be given credit for five years because she paid her Nevada State Bar dues in the fall of 2006 and that covers back to the fall of 2005.

Bixler ruled the five-year requirement starts when the person is licensed to practice law.

The other candidates are Senior Deputy State Attorney General Conrad Hafen, Deputy District Attorney Bernard Zadrowski and attorney Colby D. Beck.

A response filed with the Supreme Court on behalf of the three other candidates says a decision by the Supreme Court after April 12 would result in the county election department incurring overtime costs for the printing work.

And the trio say if Candelaria is not included on the ballot, she “will not suffer irreparable injury, however, as she will be eligible to run in the next election cycle only two years away.”

The top two candidates in the primary election go into the general election.

Absentee ballots are required to be mailed April 23 or 45 days before the primary election June 8.