NORTH LAS VEGAS MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE DEPARTMENT 2: What do you hope to accomplish if elected?

The View asked the candidates to share, in their own words, their goals

Sean Hoeffgen Christopher Cannon Marsha Kimble-Simms Advertisement

Christopher Cannon

If elected, I would make the municipal court, and its judges, more accessible to the community. I would ensure that a night traffic court, presently slated to be canceled by the incumbent, would be offered two to four times a month, to assist the working person in attending court to either challenge the citation they received or to attend traffic school. I would also hold court during nighttime hours or weekends, to present working people with options on how to handle their legal responsibilities, without placing themself in jeopardy of missing court or having a warrant issued for their arrest. I would expand alternative sentencing, for non-violent offenders -- including formal probation for first time offenders with requirements for job training, education or counseling, to assist in reducing the chance that the offender would re-offend. Additionally, these alternative sentences would reduce the population of our detention center, reducing taxpayer expense for housing inmates and insuring that the violent offenders, who will receive strict sentences for preying on our community, would not be released due to overpopulation. I would also hold bi-monthly court forums to ensure that citizens would have an avenue to express their concerns of the court.

Sean Hoeffgen

I will continue working to improve the court's reputation as a highly efficient court. I will expand the program I founded and am most proud of, the Habitual Offender Prevention and Education (HOPE) Court program. HOPE deals with repeat non-violent offenders. In order to ensure safer streets for our neighborhoods while ensuring our jails are less overcrowded, we must be diligent about dealing with this issue of overcrowdedness. I believe leading a non-violent offender to recovery can be accomplished by placing them in a sophisticated drug and alcohol treatment program. It is a fact that individuals who have successfully completed HOPE Court have not recommitted crimes in our city. They are not repeat offenders. I will also work to expand the DUI Court program, which I successfully started. The DUI program will include harsher penalties for defendants, especially those defendants who have a history of driving while under the influence. Finally, I have plans to begin a drivers' education program for juvenile drivers who have received citations for traffic violations.

Marsha Kimble-Simms

As a former prosecutor and Judge Pro Tem in North Las Vegas Justice Court, I intend to provide excellent service to the city of North Las Vegas by working with the North Las Vegas Police Department and the community to promote a better understanding of the rule of law that governs our court system and seek community block grants to hire more police officers and create public safety programs. As your judge I will build collaborative relationships with community groups to keep the public informed as to the workings of court system and work to make court administration more efficient and accountable. As a fellow member of this community, I would invite law enforcement and the community to participate in the Annual Law Day Program. This program gives each participant a copy of the United States Constitution and the State Constitution providing a framework for how law enforcement protects and serves our families, children, schools, and the North Las Vegas community.