Administrative Order 15-04 (as amended on April 21, 2015) sets out the procedures for case assignments in domestic violence cases in the Justice Court of the Las Vegas Township in Clark County, Nevada.
As of April 21, 2015, the judge currently assigned a DV caseload is Judge Melanie Andress-Tobiasson. The judges occasionally change departments although the procedures within those departments generally remain the same.
The administrative order provides that cases shall be assigned automatically to the Domestic-Violence Department (DV Department) of the Las Vegas Justice Court based upon the following charges. First, all second, third or subsequent offenses of “Battery Which Constitutes Domestic Violence” shall be automatically assigned to the Domestic-Violence Department of the Las Vegas Township Justice Court. Domestic violence is defined under NRS 33.018. The penalties for domestic violence offenses are set out in NRS 200.485.
Second, cases are assigned to the DV Department if the case is a misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor, or felony involving allegations of domestic violence, if the underlying domestic relationship involves at least one of the following:
- a current or prior dating relationship regardless of gender;
- a current or prior marriage; or
- a couple with children in common.
Cases that do not involve an allegation of domestic violence and does not implicate one of the aforementioned relationships will maintain its random track assignment in the Township Justice Court in Las Vegas.
Administrative Order 15-04 also provides that if a defendant is charged with both a charge which implicates assignment to the DV Department and a charge which implicates assignment to the DUI/Vehicular-Crime Departments of the Las Vegas Township Justice Court, then the case shall be automatically assigned to the DV Department.