Carson District Judge Bill Maddox says he won't be a candidate for a second six-year term next year.
Maddox, 59, said he made the announcement so that potential candidates for his office know the position is open once his current term expires.
"I want to free-up people to start announcing," he said. "Normally I wouldn't be announcing this soon, but the new filing period for judges begins in January."
Maddox was appointed to the post by Gov. Kenny Guinn to replace Mike Fondi, who retired in August 2000.
He ran and won the office in 2002. That term expires Dec. 31, 2008.
"I've been on the front lines in the law for 30 years," Maddox said.
But he didn't rule out accepting another legal position in public service, saying it would enhance his Public Employees Retirement System pension credits that he earned while with the Carson City District Attorney's office.
Maddox worked in the district attorney's office from 1978-85, including as district attorney from 1981-85. He has also served as president of the Nevada District Attorney's Association.
He was U.S. Attorney for the State of Nevada from 1985-89, then entered private practice.
During that period, he made an unsuccessful run for Nevada Attorney General before building his practice as one of Northern Nevada's more prominent private defense lawyers.
Maddox received his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M and his law degree from McGeorge School of Law.
He is a Carson City native.
• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.
Judicial candidate filing dates now in January
The 2007 Legislature moved judicial filing dates from May to January to try reduce the need for judges to unnecessarily raise campaign contributions.
Matt Griffin, elections deputy for the Secretary of State, said historically judges have filed in May just like legislative and other political candidates.
"Because of that old filing date in May with an August primary, a lot of judges were raising money prior to the filing date when they didn't know they would be unopposed," Griffin said.
He said the judges themselves were concerned because more than half of incumbent judges run unopposed - which means they don't need to raise campaign money.
He said the Legislature, at the suggestion of judges, restricted judicial filing to a 10-day period beginning the first Monday in January. This year that's from Jan. 7-18.
He said that way, all judges seeking office will know Jan. 15 whether they have an opponent.
Judicial canons, which govern the conduct of the judiciary, bar judges without an opponent from raising campaign funds.