Unhappy with your current judge? Try filing a motion to have them removed from the bench. Attorney Bob Lueck ("Divorce without bloodshed" ... nice) sought leave to file a petition on behalf of the State of Nevada for a writ of quo warranto removing Judge Robert Teuton from office. While The Supremes found that Lueck lacked standing, they agreed that the judge has overstayed his welcome and actually removed him from the bench.
Teuton was appointed by Governor Gibbons in August of 2008 to fill a spot left vacant in family court. Teuton’s written commission designated the first Monday in January 2011 as its expiration date (the date the particular seat Teuton occupied was up for reelection). However, according to Justice Cherry, the Nevada Constitution says otherwise:
The legitimacy of the extended commission depends on the meaning of “next general election,” as used in the Nevada Constitution provision noted above. Thus, in resolving this issue, we address whether “next general election” means the election most immediately following the appointment or, as has been asserted, the next general election in which the vacancy may be filled in strict compliance with all election deadlines. In view of the apparent intent behind the Nevada Constitution’s “next general election” language to allow Nevada citizens to elect a new district judge as soon as possible after an office becomes vacant and to correspondingly limit the Governor’s appointment powers, we conclude that judicial vacancy appointments expire on the first Monday in January after the first general election following that appointment, without exception. Here, then, with regard to the temporary appointment at issue, the appointment expired on the first Monday in January after the November 2008 general election.That's right, the Court said "sayonara" to Mr. Teuton.
So, now that we have a vacant judicial seat in family court, we're guessing the Governor needs to appoint someone. Anyone think Gibbons has the stones to appoint Teuton again?
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