Nevada Judiciary

The Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection has received five applications from Nevada attorneys seeking appointment to the vacancy at the Fourth Judicial District Court in Elko that is the result of the retirement of District Judge Michael Memeo, Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Nancy M. Saitta announced.

Chief Justice Saitta encourages any interested persons to attend the interviews of the applicants.

“I would hope that interested residents attend the interviews to see how thorough and open the process is,” Chief Justice Saitta said.  “The Commission has always worked diligently to provide the Governor with the most qualified nominees for his appointment.”

Judge Memeo resigned effective November 1, 2011.  He has served nearly 15 years since being elected in 1996 as one of two judges on the District Court bench in Elko County.

The list includes the four applicants who are also seeking appointment to a second vacancy on the bench in Elko County because of the death of District Judge Andrew Puccinelli, 58, on August 8, 2011.  He had served on the bench since being appointed in 2002.

Applicants must be Nevada attorneys with 10 years of legal experience, two of those in Nevada. 

The applicants for the Department 1 vacancy in alphabetical order are:

• Judge Alvin R. Kacin, III, 43, Elko, Elko Justice and Municipal Court
• David D. Loreman, 52, Spring Creek, attorney in private practice
• Kristin A. McQueary, 47, Elko, Elko County District Attorney’s Office
• Nancy Lynn Porter, 50, Elko, attorney in private practice
• William E. Schaeffer, 56, Battle Mountain, attorney in private practice

Applications for the vacancy were accepted by the Commission until 5 p.m. on October 21, 2011.

The four who earlier applied for Judge Puccinelli’s vacancy in Department 2 are Judge Kacin, Mr. Loreman, Ms. McQueary, and Ms. Porter.

Following background investigations by the Commission, applicants for both vacancies will be interviewed on November 18 in the Elko County Commission Chambers. The interviews will be open to the public, as they have been since 2007.  The applications of those seeking appointment are available to the public on the Supreme Court website, although certain medical and personal information will remain confidential.

After the interviews, the Commission will nominate three finalists for each vacancy and submit the two lists to Governor Brian Sandoval, who will make the appointments.

The appointed judges must run in the 2012 election and win to retain their seats until the terms end in January 2015.

After receiving the names of the three finalists for each vacancy, no time limit exists for the Governor to make his appointments.  However, if an appointment is not made within 30 days following submission of names by the Commission, the Governor may make no other appointments to public office.

The Commission on Judicial Selection 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.  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 from the judicial district where the vacancy occurs – a non-attorney by the Governor and an attorney by the State Bar – bringing the Commission membership to nine. 

For the current vacancies, Governor Sandoval has appointed former Elko Assemblyman John Carpenter, who served from 1987 until leaving office in 2010.  He is a rancher, real estate broker and Elko businessman.  The State Bar of Nevada has appointed Deputy Elko County Public Defender Andrew M Mierins as its temporary member.