City attorney seeks NLV Municipal Court judgeship in recall election

By Conor Shine

Published Wednesday, July 8, 2015 | 10:09 a.m.

Updated Wednesday, July 8, 2015 | 10:46 a.m.

North Las Vegas City Attorney Sandra Douglass Morgan is jumping into the race to unseat embattled North Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge Catherine Ramsey in an upcoming recall election.

The news initially came from a Facebook post circulated this morning that included a flier advertising a fundraiser for Morgan on Thursday under the slogan “It’s Time to Make a Change.”

Morgan’s candidacy was confirmed by David Thomas, a political consultant and one of the organizers of the recall effort against Ramsey.

Ramsey was elected to a six-year term in 2011, and during her tenure she has been dogged by employee complaints, lawsuits and allegations of misuse of city funds.

A recall effort against Ramsey funded by Thomas and city employee unions was launched in March.

The recall campaign collected more than the required 1,984 signatures needed to trigger a new election in May, but Ramsey sued to stop the effort, arguing the state constitution doesn’t allow judges to be recalled by voters.

A Clark County District Court judge ruled last week that Nevada judges can be recalled, and barring a successful appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court, Ramsey is headed toward a recall vote that could come as soon as August.

Morgan started working for North Las Vegas in 2008 as a deputy city attorney and was named city attorney in December 2013. A UNLV law school graduate, she spent the first five years of her law career in private practice.

Although she's declared her intention to run, Morgan still needs to gather 1,984 signatures from voters to become a candidate, a process she said is currently underway.

Although a challenger isn’t required for a recall election — if no opponent emerges, residents simply vote yes or no on whether to recall the candidate — Thomas said being able to offer an alternative to the incumbent increases the chances for a successful recall.

“If you really believe someone is not a quality individual on the bench and you need to have them removed, then you need to recruit an individual to run against that person,” Thomas said. “That will encourage more people to get out (to vote).”