Henderson assistant city attorney Michael Allmon and Clark County prosecutor John Cory are competing for a newly created seat on Henderson Justice Court. Both candidates advanced to the Nov. 3 general election after defeating two other candidates in the June primary. Henderson Justice Court justices serve six-year terms and handle criminal and civil cases, including preliminary hearings, traffic cases, protective orders, evictions, misdemeanors, and small claims within the Henderson Township jurisdiction.
Allmon, a career prosecutor, served as a major in the Marines before earning his law degree at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. As a Clark County Deputy District Attorney, Allmon prosecutes cases for the Special Victims Unit. He says he’s running for the bench because “we need judicial officers who are actually focused on public safety.” Allmon is endorsed by District Attorney Steve Wolfson, the Henderson Police Supervisors Association, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, Henderson Police Officers Association, SEIU Local 1107, and the Southern Nevada Building Trades Union.
Allmon, who says he has a 100% conviction rate during his seven-year career, has completed three trials in the last year. If elected, Allmon says he won’t be prone to prosecutorial bias “As a prosecutor, your client is the community, and so you’re always evaluating to see what’s right for the community,” he said during a phone interview. “Part of the job is looking at cases and determining whether or not it’s a meritorious prosecution. You’re always balancing all these competing needs.”
Henderson Justice Court currently lacks specialty courts such as drug and veterans court, where offenders are channeled into programs designed to address their individual needs and keep them out of the criminal justice system. “I don’t know if the answer is necessarily building that in Henderson Justice Court specifically, or if it’s continuing to work with the other jurisdictions and doing that. I think it’s a matter of scale,” he said of efforts to bring specialty courts to Henderson. As of July, Allmon reported raising $34,000 and has roughly $10,300 on hand. Allmon took out roughly $9,000 in loans to fund his campaign, according to financial statements.
“It would be nice if judicial candidates didn’t have to raise money,” he said, adding he favors appointments over elections. Judicial contributions from attorneys who appear before the court “can’t be ignored. You can’t pretend it didn’t happen.” At the same time, he says, “there’s no way to make it an issue in court. You can’t stand up and say, ‘Judge, you’re ruling for this person because they gave you a huge campaign contribution.’ I’m a lawyer who has been on the other side from lawyers who have paid heavily into campaigns, and I’ve known it.” Allmon says his goal as a judge would be “to make sure that the process is fair and everyone comes out feeling they got a fair shake. Maybe not everyone is happy but they understand how we got to that decision.”
Cory, who is also a prosecutor, says his combination of civil and criminal experience gives him the qualifications to serve on the Dept. 4 bench. “Over the course of my career, I’ve worked really hard and succeeded at building good relationships with opposing counsel,” he said during an interview. “I think Henderson voters can feel confident that if I should win, as a judge I will bring the same reasonable, level headed, calm, thoughtful decision making” to the bench. He says he’s completed five trials in the last year. Cory was born and raised in Southern Nevada and earned his law degree from Boyd Law School. As of July, Cory raised more than $62,000 and had about $3,800 on hand. His website lists endorsements from more than 100 local attorneys.
