Rule 6.8 - Hearing masters(a) Upon a majority vote of the justices of the peace at a regularly scheduled judges' meeting, the chief judge may appoint one or more masters to perform certain duties that the Nevada Supreme Court has approved.(b) Upon appointment: (1) A hearing master appointed on a full-time basis shall be precluded from practicing law in Nevada and must recuse himself or herself from hearing any case that he or she previously handled as an attorney and from any case where a party was a client of the hearing master or the law firm where the hearing master practiced; and (2) A hearing master appointed on a basis less than full-time is subject to such reasonable restrictions on the practice of law as deemed necessary by the chief judge. This subsection shall be construed to allow a hearing master to act pro se and to give, without compensation, legal advice to and draft or review documents for a member of the hearing master's family, in accordance with the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct.
(c) The Clark County District Attorney's Office, the Clark County Public Defender's Office, the Special Public Defender's Office, and any other government office or private attorney appointed to represent an indigent defendant shall provide legal representation for the State of Nevada and indigent defendants before a hearing master as they would before any justice of the peace of the Las Vegas Justice Court.(d) A motion to disqualify a hearing master shall be heard by the chief judge or a designee of the chief judge.(e) All proceedings before a hearing master must be conducted in accordance with the Nevada and United States Constitutions, the Nevada Revised Statutes, the Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure, and these rules.(f) A hearing master serves at the pleasure of the justices of the peace of the Las Vegas Justice Court and unless those judges, by simple majority vote, cause the chief judge to enter an order terminating the appointment of a hearing master, such master shall continue to serve until the appointment of a successor. In the event of a tie vote, the chief judge's vote shall break the tie. (g) All proceedings before a hearing master shall be of record in the same manner provided by law for proceedings before justices of the peace of the Las Vegas Justice Court. All pleas of guilty or nolo contendere shall be transcribed and become a part of the court record.(h) A motion for reconsideration of a decision of a hearing master shall be brought before the justice of the peace sitting in the department of origin and shall be decided upon the pleadings and any transcript of the proceedings before the hearing master unless the justice of the peace deems further evidence to be necessary. The "department of origin" is the department of the Las Vegas Justice Court to which the clerk's office randomly assigned the case for trial or hearing.Nev. R. Prac. Justice. Ct. Las. Veg. Tow. 6.8
Added; effective 8/11/2010.