Incumbent faces public defender in race for Justice Court Department 2

A public defender is challenging a longtime incumbent in the race for the Las Vegas Justice Court Department 2 seat.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joseph Sciscento, 59, has sat on the bench since he was appointed in 2009. This election is the first time he has had an opponent, facing Chief Deputy Public Defender Kristal Bradford, 37.

Bradford graduated from Western State College of Law in 2012. She practiced civil law in California before moving to Las Vegas in 2018 and joining the Clark County public defender’s office.

She currently works on criminal matters in the Henderson and North Las Vegas justice courts.

Bradford said that after years of representing the “most vulnerable people in our society,” she is ready to take the bench. If elected, Bradford said she would like to see additional resources dedicated to mental health care for defendants in justice court.

Sciscento graduated from the University of San Diego’s law school in 1991. He worked as an attorney in Las Vegas for about 18 years, in probate cases, criminal defense and civil law, before he was appointed to the bench. He currently oversees criminal cases in justice court, along with traffic cases and temporary protective orders.

He said he has scored high in past Las Vegas Review-Journal Judging the Judges surveys, scoring an 86 percent retention recommendation in 2019.

“I care about my job, I didn’t just join this because I wanted to do something different,” he said. “After 18 years it was very important that I take that experience and go to the bench.”

The next six-year term, if he wins in November, will be Sciscento’s last before retiring, he said.

Sciscento is also one of two judges who oversee the Resort Corridor Court, in which judges handle cases involving defendants who have been banned from the Strip and surrounding areas under the county’s “order out” ordinance. 

The program is set to end in November, with the cases being dispersed to multiple judges.

Sciscento said that he was in favor of the program, and that condensing the cases to one or two courtrooms made it easier for those judges to get defendants “access to resources.”

Bradford said she is in favor of having the cases split across multiple judges, to avoid bogging down one or two courtrooms.

“It also doesn’t create that look of impropriety that that judge is working with the casino or in cahoots with the casino for this program,” she said.

Bradford also questioned a mailer from Sciscento’s campaign that advertised an endorsement from the Republican Party, despite judicial races being nonpartisan.

“I think that voters should absolutely pay attention to this and how we act, how we interact with the community while we’re in the judicial campaign,” Bradford said.

Sciscento said he had actually received support from the Nevada Republican Club, and that his campaign re-printed the mailers once realizing the error.

“I don’t know where the oversight happened but once we found out, we made the changes,” Sciscento said.

Sciscento’s endorsements include major law enforcement organizations, the Clark County Prosecutors Association, the Culinary Workers Local 226 union, the SEIU Local 1107 union and several local Teamsters chapters. Bradford’s endorsements include the Nevada chapter of the National Organization for Women, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Action Fund and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 357 union.

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