Nevada Court of Appeals

 

Nevada Court of Appeals
Court information
Judges:	3
Founded:	2014
Salary:	Associates: $165,000
Judicial selection
Method:	Nonpartisan election
Term:	6 years

The state's intermediate appellate court was created by a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that was approved by voters on November 4, 2014. The new court began hearing cases in January 2015.

All appeals are still filed with the Nevada Supreme Court, which assigns certain cases to the court of appeals for review.

• Published opinions of the Nevada Court of Appeals and the Nevada Supreme Court can be found here.

Judges

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Michael P. Gibbons	January 5, 2015 - Present	Brian Sandoval
Bonnie Bulla	March 4, 2019 - Present	Steve Sisolak
Deborah Westbrook	January 2, 2023 - Present

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Nevada

The three judges of the Nevada Court of Appeals are elected to six-year terms in nonpartisan elections. When their terms expire, judges must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court.

Qualifications

To serve on the Nevada Court of Appeals, a person must:

• be at least 25 years old;
• be licensed and admitted to practice law in Nevada, and have been licensed and admitted to practice law in the United States for at least 15 years, including at least two years in Nevada;
• be a qualified elector; and
• have been a state resident for at least two years preceding the election

Chief judge

The chief justice of the supreme court appoints the chief judge of the court of appeals for an initial term of two years. Subsequent terms are four years.

Vacancies

In the event of a midterm vacancy, the Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection solicits and screens applicants. The commission presents a list of three nominees to the governor, who appoints one to fill the vacancy until the next general election. If the predecessor's term is not expiring that election cycle, the appointed judge must win the election to the court to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.

Salary

In 2024, the associate judges of the court received a salary of $165,000, according to the National Center for State Courts.

Elections

2022

See also: Nevada intermediate appellate court elections, 2022

General election

General election for Nevada Court of Appeals

Deborah Westbrook defeated Rhonda Forsberg in the general election for Nevada Court of Appeals on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Deborah Westbrook (Nonpartisan)	51.4	459,818
	Submit photo	Rhonda Forsberg (Nonpartisan)	24.9	222,586
		Other/Write-in votes	23.7	211,499

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 893,903
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Rhonda Forsberg and Deborah Westbrook advanced from the primary for Nevada Court of Appeals.

General election

General election for Nevada Court of Appeals

Incumbent Michael P. Gibbons won election in the general election for Nevada Court of Appeals on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Michael P. Gibbons (Nonpartisan)	74.7	651,985
		Other/Write-in votes	25.3	220,597

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 872,582
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Michael P. Gibbons advanced from the primary for Nevada Court of Appeals.

General election

General election for Nevada Court of Appeals

Incumbent Bonnie Bulla won election in the general election for Nevada Court of Appeals on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bonnie Bulla (Nonpartisan)	73.5	639,507
		Other/Write-in votes	26.5	230,071

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 869,578
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Bonnie Bulla advanced from the primary for Nevada Court of Appeals.

Judges not on the ballot

• Jerome Tao

2020

See also: Nevada intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

General election

General election for Nevada Court of Appeals

Incumbent Bonnie Bulla defeated Susan Bush in the general election for Nevada Court of Appeals on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bonnie Bulla (Nonpartisan)	42.2	499,827
		Susan Bush (Nonpartisan)	35.6	422,377
		Other/Write-in votes	22.2	263,183

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,185,387
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Bonnie Bulla and Susan Bush advanced from the primary for Nevada Court of Appeals.

2016

The three inaugural judges of the court, after their initial two-year appointments, stood for election in 2016. Each was unopposed and appeared on the general election ballot on November 8.

Candidates

Department 1

■ Jerome Tao (Incumbent/Unopposed)

Department 2

■ Michael P. Gibbons (Incumbent/Unopposed)

Department 3

■ Abbi Silver (Incumbent/Unopposed)

Election results

November 8 general election

Incumbent Jerome Tao ran unopposed in the Nevada Court of Appeals, Department 1 election.

Nevada Court of Appeals, Department 1, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jerome Tao Incumbent (unopposed)	70.91%	678,638
Write-in votes	29.09%	278,380
Total Votes (100% reporting)		957,018
Source: Nevada Secretary of State Official Results

Incumbent Michael P. Gibbons ran unopposed in the Nevada Court of Appeals, Department 2 election.

Nevada Court of Appeals, Department 2, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Michael P. Gibbons Incumbent (unopposed)	71.93%	694,869
Write-in votes	28.07%	271,124
Total Votes (100% reporting)		965,993
Source: Nevada Secretary of State Official Results

Incumbent Abbi Silver ran unopposed in the Nevada Court of Appeals, Department 3 election.

Nevada Court of Appeals, Department 3, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Abbi Silver Incumbent (unopposed)	71.50%	673,303
Write-in votes	28.5%	268,403
Total Votes (100% reporting)		941,706
Source: Nevada Secretary of State Official Results

Ethics

The Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Nevada. It is composed of four canons:

• Canon 1: "A judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety."
• Canon 2: "A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially, competently, and diligently."
• Canon 3: "A judge shall conduct the judge’s personal and extrajudicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with the obligations of judicial office."
• Canon 4: "A judge or candidate for judicial office shall not engage in political or campaign activity that is inconsistent with the independence, integrity, or impartiality of the judiciary."

The full text of the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

There are four ways to remove judges in Nevada:

• The commission on judicial discipline may retire or remove them; those actions are subject to appeal to the supreme court
• If the majority of the assembly votes to impeach a judge, the senate may remove the judge upon a two-thirds vote to convict
• Two-thirds of the members of both houses of the legislature may pass a resolution to remove a judge
• Voters may recall a judge

History

Ballot summary

See: Nevada Creation of a State Intermediate Appellate Court, Question 1 (2014)

The ballot summary included the following information:

“

DIGEST—Article 6 of the Nevada Constitution establishes the court system of the State of Nevada, which currently consists of the Nevada Supreme Court, District Courts, Justices of the Peace, and Municipal Courts. The Nevada Supreme Court is the only appellate court in Nevada that hears and decides all appeals from final judgments entered by Nevada’s District Courts. This ballot measure would create a Court of Appeals to decide some of the appeals currently decided by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court would establish the types of District Court decisions to be heard by the Court of Appeals and also determine when a Court of Appeals decision may be reviewed by the Supreme Court. This ballot measure would create, generate, or increase public revenue because existing law would require candidates for judgeships on the Court of Appeals to pay fees to run for judicial office. It also would create, generate, or increase public revenue because, if a party appeals a decision of the Court of Appeals to the Nevada Supreme Court, the Nevada Constitution would require the party to pay a fee for filing the appeal. The Court of Appeals would consist of three judges, but this ballot measure would authorize the Legislature to increase the number of judges. The Governor would appoint the initial three judges from nominees provided by the Commission on Judicial Selection. The initial three judges would be appointed to two-year terms. Thereafter, Court of Appeals judges would be elected to six-year terms at the general election. Additionally, the Supreme Court would assign, as needed, one or more Court of Appeals judges to serve part-time as supplemental District Court judges. If this ballot measure is approved by the voters, Senate Bill No. 463 of the 2013 Legislative Session would carry out the constitutional provisions creating the Court of Appeals.

”

State profile

Demographic data for Nevada
	Nevada	U.S.
Total population:	2,883,758	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	109,781	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	69%	73.6%
Black/African American:	8.4%	12.6%
Asian:	7.7%	5.1%
Native American:	1.1%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.6%	0.2%
Two or more:	4.4%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	27.5%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	85.1%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	23%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$51,847	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	17.8%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Nevada. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Nevada

Nevada voted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More Nevada coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Nevada
• United States congressional delegations from Nevada
• Public policy in Nevada
• Endorsers in Nevada
• Nevada fact checks
• More...

External links

• Nevada Judiciary, "Nevada Court of Appeals"

Footnotes

Nevada courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Nevada • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Nevada

State courts:

Nevada Supreme Court • Nevada Court of Appeals • Nevada District Courts • Nevada Justice Courts • Nevada Municipal Courts • Clark County Family Court, Nevada

State resources:

Courts in Nevada • Nevada judicial elections • Judicial selection in Nevada