Chief justice wants chief judge in Clark County

CARSON CITY -- A strong chief judge is needed in the Clark County District Court to oversee judges who are slacking off, state Chief Justice Bob Rose said Tuesday.

"There are probably two or three in the district in Clark who are not working as hard as they should," Rose told reporters after he gave his "State of the Judiciary" address to the Nevada Legislature.

The 8th District, which encompasses Clark County, has a chief judge with little authority to enforce directives, Rose said. A strong chief judge, "can tell someone who is going home early, 'You are not going home early,' " Rose said. "And if they violate rules on any consistent basis, they have an appointment with the Judicial Discipline Commission."

Rose declined to name the judges he thinks are not carrying their load and said they are "not necessarily" the judges who score low on the biennial ratings by the Clark County Bar Association.

District judges are elected and accountable to voters, but Rose said a majority of the Supreme Court now believes the Nevada Constitution gives the chief justice administrative power over the lower courts.

He said he likely will ask his fellow Supreme Court justices to enact administrative rules for "reasonable hours of work, reasonable vacations and other reasonable procedures processing of caseloads," for Clark and Washoe counties.

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