Nevada Supreme Court, AOC brief Senate committee on court structure, specialty courts and technology

Carson City — Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Douglas Herndon told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 5 that Nevada’s court system spans 17 counties divided into 11 judicial districts and includes municipal, justice, district and appellate courts.

The presentation by Chief Justice Herndon, Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) State Court Administrator Catherine Stocks and Assistant Court Administrator John McCormick summarized how courts are organized, highlighted AOC initiatives such as statewide e‑filing and a retrieval‑augmented chatbot for self‑help, and described specialty‑court funding and results.

“Nevada has 17 counties. Those counties are divided up into 11 judicial districts,” Chief Justice Douglas Herndon said, describing why some district judges must travel across multiple counties. He added that “we have a non unified court system in Nevada,” meaning local courts retain substantial administrative discretion.

Why it matters: the briefing is intended to give lawmakers a shared baseline as they consider court‑related bills and budget requests during the 2025 legislative session. Committee members pressed presenters on whether greater technology or unified systems would improve communication among jurisdictions and reduce burdens on rural courts.

Key facts from the presentation:

- Nevada’s appellate system includes a seven‑member Nevada Supreme Court and a three‑judge Nevada Court of Appeals; the Supreme Court allocates some matters to the Court of Appeals under internal operating procedures and, as noted in the presentation, Nevada Rule of Appellate Procedure 17 governs appellate practice.

- Trial and limited‑jurisdiction courts: presenters said there are about 90 district court judges; roughly 40 justice court systems served by 67 justices of the peace; and 17 municipal court systems with about 30 municipal judges. Justice courts handle matters including misdemeanor criminal cases, landlord‑tenant (eviction) and small claims; the presenters noted civil jurisdiction thresholds of up to $15,000 for justice courts and $10,000 for small claims.

- The AOC compiles an annual report (statutorily required) with case statistics and additional county tables; Stocks said copies were available for committee members and that AOC staff are available to meet with lawmakers about court data and programs.

- Specialty courts: the AOC reported it currently funds 64 trial‑court specialty programs with roughly $8.49 million in annual support. AOC figures in the presentation said that in the latest available three‑year recidivism measure (2021), 77% of specialty‑court graduates did not recidivate, while dismissed participants recidivated at a 45% rate. Fiscal‑year‑2024 figures showed 1,320 specialty‑court graduates and 36 births without substance exposure attributed to those programs.

- Guardianship oversight and case management: Stocks and McCormick highlighted the Guardianship Compliance Office and the AOC’s work on a new cloud‑based case management system and updated appellate tracking, which the presenters said improves access for self‑represented litigants.

- Access technology and self‑help: Stocks described an AOC‑deployed retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) chatbot and legal kiosks. The chatbot supports roughly 50 languages and AOC uses it to expand guided interview e‑filing for self‑represented litigants; Stocks said the kiosk with integrated e‑filing was being piloted in Lyon County.

Committee questions and AOC responses: several senators raised whether a unified case management system would allow judges and law enforcement to see out‑of‑jurisdiction records more quickly. Chief Justice Herndon said he was “unsure” that unification alone would solve interagency data‑sharing gaps; he noted the court system previously worked on a pretrial risk assessment tool and plans to reconstitute that committee in February or March to revalidate and explore data improvements. Stocks and McCormick emphasized the AOC is offering tools and voluntary statewide upgrades — including a cloud‑based case management rollout that currently covers roughly 34 courts — and training to encourage greater uniformity without imposing a single mandatory vendor.

Senators also asked about remote appearances and video conferencing. Chief Justice Herndon and others said remote hearings (expanded during the COVID‑19 pandemic) increased attendance and access to counsel in many cases, and the judiciary encourages remote appearances where appropriate to reduce travel burdens for litigants, attorneys and senior judges.

On judicial education and specialized dockets, the AOC said it conducts judicial education conferences, funds elective education for judges who pursue specialized training, and has created a water‑court training program to promote consistent handling of water matters across districts.

Ending note: presenters offered to meet individually with committee members about the annual report and specific AOC programs. The committee moved on after the briefing to a presentation by the Department of Indigent Defense Services.