Clark County launches gamblers diversion court

Family Court Judge Cheryl Moss has thoroughly studied problem gambling, lectured on the issue and written scholarly articles about it.

Her mother, Rena Nora, a psychiatrist, led a group that pushed for criminal diversion for those with gambling addictions. She died before Nevada passed a law in 2009 that allows nonviolent offenders with gambling addictions to avoid prison.

Starting Friday, Moss, who has pushed for years to create a designated court for problem gamblers, will oversee a new division for those whose cases stem from addiction.

“This is momentous,” the judge said in an interview Thursday. “This is historic. This is big news, not only in Nevada but worldwide.”

While no cases had been assigned to the court, Moss said, all the mechanisms will be in place to start accepting referrals from judges who hear criminal cases. Moss, who said she first instituted gambling assessments in family cases in 2001, plans to hold gamblers court at least every other Friday in her courtroom on North Pecos Road.

“I’ve always envisioned a gambling treatment court in the back of my mind,” she said.

A little over two years ago, Moss wrote an article for the UNLV Gaming Law Journal titled “Shuffling the Deck: The Role of the Courts in Problem Gambling Cases.”

It analyzed approaches to gambling diversion programs across the country, along with Nevada’s law that allowed for problem gamblers charged with crimes to seek help, rather than face prison time.

“I believe that addressing problem gambling starts with awareness and educating the public,” she wrote. “In my career as a family court judge, awareness and educating the public are not possible without substantive knowledge and actual courtroom experience.”

Specialty court programs, implemented in Nevada in 1992, are aimed at people who face criminal charges that might have stemmed from addiction. Instead of being sent to prison or placed on probation with only an officer to monitor them, a judge orders intensive counseling and retains oversight. It’s considered more cost-effective than incarceration and a proactive way to reduce the number of repeat offenses.

Carol O’Hare, executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, said her staff will help introduce defendants to resources and treatment options around Clark County.

“The best outcomes for problem gamblers are the result of a combination of clinical or therapeutic treatment as well as community or peer support,” O’Hare said. “We want to make sure that piece is something they can find for themselves.”

Chief District Judge Linda Bell decided to launch the specialty court after attending a working group created by Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson. The group includes lawyers, judges and experts in the gambling industry, addressing possible changes to the state’s gambling diversion law.

This year, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Wolfson’s longtime aide, Audrie Locke, had stolen $42,000 from his campaign fund. She was not charged criminally and blamed the theft in part on money troubles tied to her video poker addiction, for which she said she had sought treatment.

“I think we should have a gamblers court,” Wolfson said. “The establishment of a gamblers court is a good thing.”