Lombardo appoints former prosecutor to District Court bench

Gov. Joe Lombardo has appointed a former prosecutor to fill a vacant judicial seat in District Court.

Erika Mendoza was appointed to judge in Department 27, the court announced on Tuesday. The department’s prior judge, Nancy Allf, retired in January after nearly 13 years on the bench. Allf primarily handled civil cases.

Mendoza graduated from Boyd Law School in 2011. She has worked at the Clark County district attorney’s office since September 2011, and has served on the office’s gun crimes unit, general litigation team and appellate unit, according to the announcement from the District Court.

Seven applicants applied to the Department 27 seat, and Lombardo chose Mendoza from the top three nominees.

Mendoza will have to file as a candidate for the November general election to serve the remainder of the term, which expires in January 2027, according to the announcement.

In January, the seat was “inadvertently placed on the ballot,” and two candidates were allowed to file for the department, even though Lombardo had not officially declared the seat vacant. Clark County spokeswoman Stephanie Wheatley previously told the Review-Journal that county officials expect a special candidate filing period to be held from June 17 to July 26.

Since Lombardo was elected governor, he has appointed former prosecutor Danielle Pieper to serve as judge in Department 7. He has also appointed Jacob Reynolds, a former private attorney, to Department 29, and former family law attorneys Paul Gaudet and Regina McConnell to serve on the bench in Family Court.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.