Nevada Judiciary

In his State of the Judiciary address, Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice James W. Hardesty declared the state’s court system to be sound and highlighted its many achievements while acknowledging its growing challenges.

“I am excited about the future of the Judicial Branch in Nevada. I am proud that our courts continue to meet the challenges placed before us and are providing real solutions for today’s problems,” Chief Justice Hardesty stated. “Nevada’s Judges and court staff are motivated, enthusiastic, innovative, and engaged in making this branch of government the best that it can be.”

The State of the Judiciary address was presented to a joint session of the Nevada Legislature on Tuesday, March 24, 2009.

A copy of the speech can be downloaded from the Supreme Court website.

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Chief Justice Hardesty acknowledged that “the responsibilities of the Judiciary have increased in ways we would not have imagined just two decades ago. Increasingly, our citizens are turning to the courts to secure assistance in a variety of complex, civil and even social problems.”

He praised the highly successful specialty courts – primarily drug and mental health courts – and recounted successful cases in Elko, White Pine, and Clark Counties. He also talked about the Women In Need (WIN) Court and Habitual Offender Prevention and Education (HOPE) Court in Las Vegas and the success of the DUI Courts throughout the state.

The Chief Justice also touted the Business Courts, calling it “one of my favorite success stories.”

“Business Courts keep companies in business and Nevadans working,” he said.

He noted the courts have been facing the challenges of complex construction defect and medical malpractice cases that can take weeks or months in trial to resolve. He added that “The Judiciary is facing yet another case management crisis in Clark County – the well publicized endoscopy litigation. Through February of this year, 446 cases involving thousands of individuals have been filed, presenting a significant challenge to the judicial system.”

The Chief Justice pointed out that family law cases now comprise more than half of all civil cases and judges are tasked with resolving those cases when both parties often are representing themselves.

Chief Justice Hardesty, however, told legislators that growing caseloads and limited resources will make it difficult for judges to continue resolving many cases in a timely manner.

“In my view, the vision for Nevada’s Judicial Branch today is to be proactive in the management of its cases, innovative in its approach to dispute resolution, creative in its efforts to provide access to our courts, sensitive to the needs of people who come before us, accountable for our behavior and decisions, fiscally responsible and transparent in all that we do,” he stated in his address.

Chief Justice Hardesty also focused on the efforts of the courts to assist in the state’s budgetary struggles. He pointed to the recently completed traffic amnesty program at Las Vegas Township Justice Court that brought in $5.4 million for Clark County and the State of Nevada. An additional 9,600 individuals established payment plans to pay $5.8 million in outstanding fees and fines. Another 10,000 individuals have requested traffic court dates to deal with their outstanding cases.

The Chief Justice reminded the lawmakers that the Nevada Supreme Court reverted almost $2 million to the General Fund for fiscal year 2008, or 23% of the general fund appropriation to the Court excluding statutorily set judicial compensation. He projected that the Supreme Court could revert another $2.2 million for fiscal year 2009, or 24% of the Court’s general fund appropriation excluding judicial compensation.

After emphasizing at several points in the address that the courts are struggling with insufficient resources, Chief Justice Hardesty asked the Legislature to consider a proposal to increase filing fees on civil cases to fund additional judges or provide for other judicial needs.

He also advocated for the continued funding of the Senior Judge Program and for a Constitutional amendment to create an Intermediate Appellate Court in Nevada.