Selection of appellate court justices on fast track

Like everything else in the process since voters approved creation of an intermediate appellate court, selection of the three initial justices is on the fast track.

Interviews with the 36 candidates who applied for the posts will be held in the first four days of December.

All interviews will be held at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas. They will be teleconferenced to the Supreme Court in Carson City and the Washoe County Courthouse for the public to see.

Department one applicants will be heard Dec. 1, Department 2 on Dec. 2 and Department 3 candidates on Dec. 3-4.

The Commission on Judicial Selection will choose three finalists for each of those seats and forward them to Gov. Brian Sandoval who will make the final choices.

In the future, however, all will have to stand for election as do all other judges in Nevada.

The Nevada Supreme Court issued the notices and requirements for applicants immediately following the Nov. 4 approval by voters and went to the Board of Examiners on the 12th to get the $782,500 in contingency funding set aside in anticipation the vote would be positive.

Justice Jim Hardesty has said the goal is to have the three justices in place and hearing cases in January.