Nevada Judiciary

Governor Jim Gibbons has appointed Assistant Clark County District Attorney Robert Teuton to fill the vacancy at the Eighth Judicial District Family Court that resulted from the retirement on July 1 of Judge Gerald Hardcastle.

The appointment came exactly one month after the Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection concluded its historic session in Las Vegas and nominated three finalists. That selection process was the first time ever that the interviews and deliberations were open to the public. In addition, members of the public were allowed to address the Commission to speak about the qualifications of the eight applicants.

Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Gibbons commented after the appointment that "Bob Teuton has the experience and temperament to make an outstanding Family Court judge."

In a news release announcing the appointment, the Governor stated, "Mr. Teuton’,s experience protecting the interests of children and families will be a valuable asset to the family court. I'm confident he will do an excellent, fair job presiding over the sensitive and important issues that go before family court judges."

Mr. Teuton currently serves as the Assistant Clark County District Attorney supervising the Family Support Division, which includes 13 attorneys and 250 staff. He previously spent seven years working in the Clark County Family and Youth Services Division.

"I'm very thankful to the Governor for showing faith in me to be a fair judge," Teuton said in the Governor’,s news release. "The cases that go before family courts are incredibly important, and I will do my very best ensure everyone who comes before me is treated with dignity and respect."

Governor Gibbons said he was impressed with the work of the Judicial Selection Commission.

"I'm very pleased that the commission sent over three highly qualified candidates," the Governor stated in the release. [Read the Governor’,s news release]

In addition to Mr. Teuton, the finalists were Las Vegas attorneys Bryce Callow Duckworth, 43, and Charles J. Hoskin, 44. Both are running for Family Court seats. Eight attorneys applied for the appointment.

In its interviews, the Commission considered comprehensive applications, letters of reference, written public comments, and responses to verbal questions posed during the interviews.

Mr. Teuton will fill the remainder of the Judge Hardcastle’,s term, which runs through the end of 2010.

The Commission is composed of seven permanent members - the Supreme Court Chief Justice, three non-attorneys appointed by the Governor and three attorneys appointed by the State Bar of Nevada - plus the two temporary members appointed from the judicial district where a vacancy occurs. Neither the Governor nor the Bar may appoint more than two permanent members from the same political party, and cannot appoint two members from the same county.

For District Court vacancies, two temporary members are appointed - a non-attorney by the Governor and an attorney by the State Bar - bringing the Commission membership to nine. The temporary members serve only until the nominations for the vacancy are transmitted to the Governor.

The regular commission members are:

• Chief Justice Mark Gibbons, Chair
• Ruthe Agee, of Spring Creek, Elko County, who works in the orthodontic field, (Governor appointee)
• Ann Bersi, Ph.D., former deputy district attorney in the Civil Division of the Clark County District Attorney’,s Office (State Bar appointee)
• Rose Dominguez, director of Desert Community Bank, former owner of Discovery Travel, and member of the Clark County Board of Equalization (Governor appointee)
• David Grundy, Reno attorney who is partner in the law firm of Lemons, Grundy & Eisenberg (State Bar appointee)
• Michael Pennington, Reno, Special Projects Coordinator for the Community Services Agency & Development Corporation (Governor appointee)
• Thomas L. Stockard, Fallon, Churchill County Deputy District Attorney (State Bar appointee)

Temporary Commission members were Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Wolfson (State Bar appointee) and veteran gaming executive Jeffrey Gilbert (Governor appointee).