Tuesday, April 5, 2005 | 8:54 a.m.
As North Las Vegas voters go to the polls today to select a judge for the newly created Municipal Court, state lawmakers this spring may consider if such lower level jurists should be required to be lawyers.
Las Vegas and Henderson require Municipal Court judges there to be attorneys, but North Las Vegas has no such requirement. Legislation introduced by Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, although it excludes mention of Municipal Court, brings the issue to the forefront.
Senate Bill 234 requires that a Nevada Supreme Court justice practice law for 10 years before being elected or appointed. District Court and Justice Court judges would be required to have five years of experience as practicing lawyers. All positions with the exception of justices of the peace in certain townships are already required to be attorneys, but there is no time limit on being an attorney.
Assemblyman Bob McCleary, D-North Las Vegas, a member of the Assembly's Government Affairs Committee, said Friday that if the legislation makes it out of the Senate, he will propose an amendment that requires Municipal Court judges be attorneys as well. Those already elected, even if it's this year, would be protected by any legislation, he said.
"It is my opinion that it is time Nevada raises the bar on municipal judge requirements," McCleary said. "Eventually, we are going to go that way. It is just a natural progression of things. It is just more professional.
"In our early history, we had layman judges because of a lack of lawyers out here. That is not the case anymore."
Only two of the six candidates vying for the North Las Vegas' second Municipal Court are attorneys.
Lee said he welcomes McCleary's input but hasn't taken a position on his proposed amendment, other than to say smaller counties should be excluded from the requirement because they have fewer lawyers. Lee said he deliberately excluded mention of Municipal Court judges in his bill because of the pending race in his city.
"I didn't want this bill to be used for or against anybody," Lee said. "I didn't want to give one person a benefit over another. Everybody is living by the laws right now, and it is best to hold off and watch what happens."
North Las Vegas already has Municipal Court Judge Warren Van Landschoot who is not a lawyer. Van Landschoot will be re-elected to his third term this year because no one filed to run against him.
Van Landschoot said state lawmakers tried pushing for such requirements in the past and he doesn't expect the issue will get anywhere this session. He pointed out that in his previous two election bids, he defeated lawyers, and doesn't see the need to limit the public's choices.
"There are two attorneys in this race, and the public has their choice if that's what they want," Van Landschoot said.
As a former homicide detective for 20 years and someone who taught police academy courses on search and seizure and crime scene investigations, Van Landschoot said that even without a law degree he had the experience and qualifications for the bench. He said not everyone with a law degree has the experience to serve as a Municipal Court judge.
Sean Hoeffgen, an attorney and one of six candidates vying for the bench, said Van Landschoot has been a great jurist. But he said Van Landschoot is unique in that he had the experience as a homicide detective and police academy instructor to do the job.
"It is my personal belief that it is time for a change now that we are a large-sized city," said Hoeffgen, who spends half of his week representing defendants in Las Vegas Municipal Court. "The Municipal Court is so crowded and busy, and the issues are getting more complex. More defense attorney are representing clients in Municipal Court. There are experienced prosecutors that are well trained. You need to have a judge that can converse with them and have that same background."
The other candidate in the race with a law degree, Robert Nelson-Kortland, a former deputy attorney and judge pro tem, said there is no question that Municipal Court judges need to be attorneys. There are too many rules of evidence that require a legal background.
Municipal Court judges preside over misdemeanor trials dealing with such offenses as domestic battery, DUI and minor drug offenses where people can be sentenced up to six months in jail and fined up to $1,000. They also handle city ordinance violations and some minor civil cases.
Keith Buck, who oversees manufacturing of handcrafted and area rugs, is a candidate for the North Las Vegas bench and uses Judge Van Landschoot as an example of why it isn't necessary to be a lawyer. He said Van Landschoot is highly respected while some other judges in the region who are attorneys aren't thought of so highly.
"Just because you are an attorney doesn't give you any grasp on common sense," said Buck, who lambasted attempts to change what cities like North Las Vegas do. "Attorneys continue to try to take away the common man's ability to participate in government."
Judicial candidate Willia Chaney, executive director of Smart Start Child Care Center, maintains her job gives her the experience. She said she doesn't need to be a lawyer.
"You can do a good job by being a person with common sense and working within the confines of the law," Chaney said. "Just because someone is an attorney doesn't mean they will be fair. And they have to look up the law just like everybody else."
Judicial candidate Christopher Larotonda, a North Las Vegas Police lieutenant, said it's important that judges have the training like he does to serve on the bench, but they shouldn't be required to be attorney. He said experience counts, saying he has testified in court for 27 years and has a good grasp of the legal system.
"We shouldn't get so wrapped up in the technical aspects," Larotonda said. "We are supposed to find out the truth. That is what we are after, and not whether we use legal jargon or not."
The other candidate on the ballot, Marcia Daines, said she was dropping out of the race but was not able to get off the ballot. She has not been campaigning.
North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon said he hasn't made up his mind what is the best practice, even though the trend nationwide is for the judges to be attorneys. He said the election will show how important an issue it is the city.
"The best way to find out if they should be attorneys is to check to see who people end up voting for," Montandon said. "We have the option this time."
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