The Nevada Supreme Court building Monday, March 4, 2019.
Photo: David Calvert / The Nevada Independent
Chief Justice Jim Hardesty announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election to the Nevada Supreme Court.
He said he will retire when his current six-year term expires at the end of 2022.
Hardesty has been a judge in Nevada’s court system for nearly 24 years, first as a Washoe County district judge before moving to the high court in 2005.
In that time he has had an outsized impact on the court, working with other justices to modernize and expand the services and efficiency of the court system.
“I am particularly proud of the role I had in the creation of a court of appeals, construction of a new appellate courthouse in Las Vegas, the adoption of a business plan that has funded courthouse and technology improvements throughout the state and expansion of interest paid on Lawyer’s Trust Accounts that increased funding to legal aid organizations tenfold,” he said.
He was also instrumental in reforming the guardianship system and numerous criminal justice reforms.
During his tenure, Hardesty also authored more than 350 published opinions.
He thanked his family and friends as well as his judicial assistants for more than 20 years, 42 law clerks who have worked for him and the high court staff.
The courts, however, were not Hardesty’s first venture into public service. While he attended the University of Nevada, Reno in the late 1960s, he served as student body president of the Associated Students of the University of Nevada.
He did not indicate what his plans are beyond saying he looks forward to the next chapter of his professional career.
