Nevada Judiciary

Douglas County Judge David Gamble retiring after 25 years

The Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection will accept applications from qualified Nevada attorneys until October 25, 2012, to fill the seat on the Ninth Judicial District Court that will become vacant with the retirement of Judge David Gamble, Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Cherry announced.

Judge Gamble, 61, who has served on the District Court bench in Douglas County since 1987 – longer than any other sitting judge – will retire on January 6, 2013.

In his letter to Governor Brian Sandoval announcing his retirement, Judge Gamble stated: “With 25 years of interaction with parties, lawyers, jurors, and the wonderful people I have worked with, I believe I have a sufficient supply of tales to tell from my rocker.”

He said he intends to serve as a Senior District Judge and mediator after his retirement.

As a District Judge, Judge Gamble was a leader in the juvenile justice and instrumental in the creation of the Aurora Pines Girls Facility in Gardnerville – the only such facility for girls in the state.

Twenty years ago, he and his wife founded City of Refuge, a nonprofit program to provide pregnant girls and women with a place to live.  Judge Gamble said he intends to devote more time to the program during his retirement.

The appointment process to fill Judge Gamble’s impending vacancy is open to all Nevada attorneys with 10 years of legal experience, two of those in Nevada. 

Applications for the vacancy must be submitted to the Commission by 5 p.m. on October 25, 2012.  Applications must be submitted in hard copy to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).  Applications may be submitted to the AOC in Carson City or Las Vegas according to application instructions.  The application for this vacancy is available on the Supreme Court website at: http://www.nevadajudiciary.us/index.php/viewdocumentsandforms/Commission-Files/Commission-on-Judicial-Selection/

The public will be able to view the applications, with the exceptions of medical records and personal identification information, on the Supreme Court website.  Also remaining confidential will be the letters of comment solicited about the candidates along with letters of reference to ensure the authors can be candid.

After all applications are submitted, the Commission will conduct background investigations and interview each of the applicants.  The Commission will then deliberate and nominate three finalists, whose names will be submitted to Governor Brian Sandoval for the appointment.

Interviews are tentatively scheduled for December 10-11, 2012, in the Douglas County seat of Minden.

As has been the rule since 2007, the Commission’s interviews will be open to the public.

After receiving the names of the three finalists, no time limit exists for the Governor to make his appointment.  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.