Nevada Judiciary

The Nevada Supreme Court has filed a petition to begin the process of amending court rules to prohibit all judicial candidates from soliciting or collecting campaign contributions unless they draw a challenger.

The proposed rule change, which will be acted upon by the Supreme Court following a public hearing, is the result of the passage of AB 505, which moves the filing dates for candidates for most judicial positions to the first two weeks in January. The law and accompanying rule change will impact campaign fundraising in judicial election cycles.

Justice Mark Gibbons said that the Supreme Court will set a date in the near future for the hearing to obtain public comment about the suggested language of the rule change.

AB 505 changes the filing period for non-partisan judicial candidates in state and county races from the current two-week period in May to the first two weeks in January. It was passed by the Legislature after Justice Gibbons testified that the Supreme Court would limit the ability of judicial candidates to collect campaign funds unless they are challenged.

The filing period for all non-judicial elections will remain in May.

In recent elections, about 60 percent of District Court candidates draw no opposition, yet these candidates usually begin collecting contribution and campaigning beginning in January of election years in recognition of the possibility that someone may file against them by the May deadline.

The Supreme Court petition proposes limiting the collection of contributions to no earlier than February 1 of an election year for judicial candidates with challengers. The current rule allows fundraising to begin in mid-December before an election.

Justice Gibbons said that date was suggested by the Supreme Court because it would prohibit fundraising during the two week filing period and the week after, when candidates have the ability to withdraw from a race.

"AB 505 provides meaningful benefits not only for the judges, but also for the public," said Justice Gibbons. "Because unchallenged judges won’,t have to conduct campaigns, they will be spending their days on the bench conducting the public’,s business, rather than on the campaign trail."

Before signing the bill into law on May 18, Governor Jim Gibbons said that "AB 505 addresses many concerns about campaign fundraising by judges that have been voiced in recent months and demonstrates the commitment by the Legislature, the Judiciary and myself to make sure Nevada has the best possible court system."

"This bill was promoted by the Supreme Court and the judiciary throughout Nevada as a proactive way of helping to ensure that our judges are fair and impartial," said Justice Gibbons. "As long as judges are publicly elected, judicial candidates will have to raise campaign funds, but AB 505 will take much of the campaign money out of judicial elections."

Not included in AB 505 or the impending Supreme Court rule are Municipal Court judges. In Clark County, municipal judges face voters in different years and on different election cycles than state and county judges.