Parraguirre to become chief justice

Ron Parraguirre will assume the position of chief justice of the Nevada Supreme Court in 2010.

Parraguirre is one year from completing his first six-year term on the high court. He has already announced plans to seek a second term.

A fourth generation Nevadan, he has praised recent changes in the court to ensure "that every citizen has a voice in the system."

Before his election succeeding Justice Deborah Agosti, who retired, he was a district judge in Clark County for five years. Before that he served three terms on the municipal court bench.

After law school, he went to Washington, D.C., to work for then-U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt. He later became counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on criminal law.

Parraguirre's family emigrated from the Basque country to western Nevada in the 1870s to the ranch country south of Carson City. But the family has a history of making the law a career. His great aunt was a law school graduate. His father Paul and two uncles all graduated from Denver School of Law, with Paul Parraguirre eventually serving as a Nevada district judge.

Chief justice of the Nevada court is a rotating position that changes at the end of each calendar year. Outgoing Chief Justice Jim Hardesty is also seeking a second term on the high court in the 2010 elections.