Las Vegas judge resigns, citing need to care for her family
A Las Vegas judge who was up for re-election abruptly resigned last month.
Justice of the Peace Rebecca Kern oversaw Las Vegas Justice Court Department 6 and had served on the bench since 2017. She notified officials of her resignation on Jan. 24, a week before her final day, according to a letter obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday.
“It has been an honor serving our community as a Justice of the Peace, but at this time I need to resign to care for my family,” Kern wrote in the brief letter to Clark County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick, who was chairwoman of the commission until Jan. 4.
Kern did not reply to a request for comment on Monday.
She ran for the bench in 2016 against incumbent Bita Yeager, who is now a District Court judge. Kern graduated from UNLV’s Boyd Law School in 2004 and worked for several law firms before running for the position. At the time of the election, she specialized in litigation for Aldridge Pite, a law firm that primarily represented financial institutions.
According to the Review-Journal’s Judicial Performance Evaluation in 2019, responding attorneys felt that Kern was one of two judges in Las Vegas Justice Court who should not be retained on the bench. She received a retention score of 47 percent.
Most respondents who completed the survey felt that Kern was kind and respectful, but about half felt she did not accurately apply the law and did not weigh all evidence fairly before rendering decisions.
Kern did not respond to an interview request for the Review-Journal’s article on the results of the 2019 evaluation.
The Clark County Commission is in charge of appointing a replacement justice of the peace when one resigns. The appointment process typically takes four to five months, Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa said.
Kern’s position is up for re-election in 2022, but it was unclear Monday if anyone had intended to run against her. Judicial candidates have from March 7 to March 18 to file a notice with the secretary of state to run for office.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.
