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During the next few months the Eighth Judicial District Court will ensure all outlying areas of Clark County have access to juvenile delinquency hearings by creating a hearing master system for rural juvenile justice. This program will provide court-appointed judicial officers in rural Clark County communities to preside over juvenile delinquency matters.

“Our outlying communities, often far from Las Vegas, are growing and we have seen a need to provide them the same access to services for juvenile delinquency matters as we provide at the Family Court in Las Vegas,” said Juvenile Judge William O. Voy. “By working to appoint judicial officers in communities such as Searchlight, Laughlin, Moapa, Mesquite or Overton, we can handle those cases locally and provide better service to the entire judicial district.”

The District Court currently provides access to a juvenile hearing master in two outlying communities. By expanding the program countywide, the court can adjudicate cases in multiple areas and better serve the needs of southern Nevada. The court intends to reallocate existing funds dedicated to its current system to fund the expansion of services.

“Clark County is committed to ensuring that the outlying communities continue to have juvenile court in their local jurisdictions,” said Commissioner Tom Collins. “We do not want to inconvenience those residents by forcing them to come to Las Vegas to have their cases heard.”

The court will have a working plan in place by late 2006. By court rule juvenile masters in the Eighth Judicial District Court must be attorney’s licensed to practice in Clark County, Nevada. The court anticipates that in the majority of communities, it will appoint local attorneys to serve in the position, while in a few remote communities an attorney from another part of the county will be appointed to serve as a juvenile master.

“Whether an outlying justice of the peace is retained for this work, or another judicial officer is appointed, the court can plan for providing consistent service to the outlying communities,” said Chief Judge Kathy A. Hardcastle. “We can better anticipate retirements or other changes and continue the work of the District Court in those areas.”

Clark County’s Eighth Judicial District Court is the largest general jurisdiction court in Nevada with a jurisdiction encompassing all municipalities and outlying communities of Clark County. The 33 district court judges serve nearly 2 million citizens seeking adjudication of juvenile, family, civil, criminal and probate matters. The court serves as a trial court for Nevada and is part of the judicial branch of state government as set forth by the Nevada Constitution.