Kim Okezie named Carson City juvenile master

District judges Todd Russell and James Wilson have named Kim Okezie as the First Judicial District’s juvenile master.

She replaces Kristin Luis who left the post to become Carson City Assistant District Attorney for Jason Woodbury.

Okezie is currently a deputy attorney general acting as legal counsel to the Public Employees Retirement System. Prior to that, she was a Carson City deputy district attorney and served as Russell’s law clerk when she was first out of law school. Okezie also worked in two different private law firms and was a substitute teacher in the Washoe County School District.

Russell said she has a strong interest in juvenile issues and expressed an interest in the master’s post several years ago when Luis was named.

The juvenile master sits as a judge on a wide variety of juvenile cases and makes recommendations to the two district judges on how to handle those matters.

Russell said Okezie was selected from a list of 25 candidates who applied for the position. Russell said there were a number of highly-qualified applicants to choose from. The finalists were reviewed by a panel of five including Russell and Wilson.

She takes over the post, which pays $110,000 a year, Jan. 30.