Jim Hardesty
Ron Parraguirre
CARSON CITY, Nev. (Legal Newsline)-Nevada Supreme Court Justices Jim Hardesty and Ron Parraguirre are seeking another six-year term on the Silver State's highest court.
The two men filed reelection papers Monday. They are the only justices up for reelection this year.
Hardesty, the outgoing chief justice, was a Washoe District Court judge before running for the Supreme Court in 2004.
Parraguirre, who became chief justice on New Year's Day, is a fourth generation Nevadan who was appointed to the district bench in Clark County after three terms as a municipal court judge.
Parraguirre, 50, is a Republican; Hardesty, 61, is a Democrat.
Nevada Supreme Court justices are not permitted to solicit campaign contributions until an opponent files. No known opponents have filed as of Tuesday.
Both candidates are in favor of the three-member intermediate appeals court, which would cost less than $2 million a year to run. Past attempts to set up a state appeals court have failed.
Both judges say the intermediate court would help with the backlog of cases the court deals with each year and bring swifter justice to people.
Hardesty and Parraguirre are seeking more time on the high court as the state faces a mounting cash crunch. Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons has asked the courts to reduce costs by 10 percent.
Hardesty said he would submit the court's plan for 6, 8, and 10 percent budget cut as the governor requested, but cautioned it would significantly impair the court's ability in deciding cases.
Parraguirre says that he wants to review staff operations and be certain the courts are making the best use of its funds. He also would like to see employees cross-trained so that they can perform several jobs.
The court has already reduced spending by 1.4 percent in the last several weeks as a response an earlier request by the governor.