Todd Prall

I am an experienced civil litigation attorney who had been practicing in Clark County for nearly 20 years. In 2004, I graduated from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in the top 10% of my class and have practiced law in Southern Nevada since that time. I have represented Nevada businesses, associations, and individuals in every court in Clark County ranging from the justice courts in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson, the Clark County District Court, the United States Court for the District of Nevada, and the Nevada Supreme Court. I know Nevada’s justice system. I know the role that the justice courts play in ensuring peace, civility, and the rule of law in a community and their relationship to the other courts in this state. I love Nevada and Henderson and want to be able to serve this community.

• I want to make sure that Nevada courts provide everyone a meaningful opportunity to seek redress or defend themselves. Having to appear in court, whether it is to seek redress for wrongs against you or to defend yourself, is stressful and difficult. I am committed to making the experience as simple, clear, and comfortable as possible. I want every individual who comes to court to have confidence that their rights, voice, and dignity are safe there.
• My goal in seeking judicial office is to be the type of judge that really cares about every case and individual that comes before me. I will treat every case with time and attention it deserves. I am committed to treating every individual with the dignity and respect they deserve.
• I am committed to the continued development of a judicial system that deserves the trust and support of the community.

I am passionate helping people resolve disputes in a peaceful and respectful way, and that promotes justice and fairness for all. I am passionate about understanding and enforcing the laws of this state and making sure everyone is accountable before the law regardless of their race, creed, or socioeconomic background.

I have a few role models in my life that I look up to for different reasons. I look up to my Father for his consistent and faithful approach to life. I worked on scout camp staff for six years as a teenager and young adult. I worked for the same camp director. I admired the way he was able to unify his staff. He was a master story teller and teacher. I look up to the many mentors I have had in my legal career including Mark Hutchison, John Steffen, and Joseph Ganley. Each of these attorneys have molded the way I practice law and the way I want to live my life.

The Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the book Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

Elected officials are public servants. They must foster the desire to serve the public and act in the interest of those they are elected to serve. As a judge, I am elected promote justice, equity, fairness, and the rule of law. Unlike other elected officials who are elected to represent the interests of a particular group of constituents, I am elected to act as an impartial arbiter of disputes and to promote justice and fairness fairly and consistently applying the principles of Nevada’s laws and Constitution, and the United States Constitution to every case that comes before me.

The most important quality I have that will make me successful is a genuinely care about people. As a judge, I will genuinely care about the cases that I hear and care about making sure that everyone who appears in my court will feel that their rights and dignity are safe there. I care and am passionate about doing what is right.

The core responsibility of anyone elected to public officer is to value and maintain the trust of those that the officer serves. For judges that means to maintain the trust of the general public that the your court will fairly and faithfully abide by the laws of the State and the U.S. Constitution.

I want to leave a legacy that continues to build faith and trust in the judicial system and I want to leave a legacy that people will remember that I cared about what I was doing.

I remember when the Berlin Wall came down in the late 1980’s. I was only about 10 or 11 years old.

I worked as a paper delivery boy when I was thirteen or fourteen. During that same time I worked for a yard care company. I cannot remember which job I had first. Then I spent six summers working at Boy Scout camps in Wyoming, Idaho, and Catalina Island.

I loved the book Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Other than the scripture, that book had the greatest influence on me as I grew up. I would often tell people that the book tells you more about France than you would ever want to know. But more than that, it tells more about the human condition and the issues that have plague society.

Any character that can that fly. I would love to be able to fly.

It is so hard for me to remember because I get songs stuck in my head constantly and then a new one comes up. I have had so many songs stuck in my head that I have a hard time remembering which one was the last one. Most recently, it was probably a church hymn, a classic rock song from the Beatles or Credence Clear Water Revival, or a Disney song. I have gotten a lot of Phineas and Ferb songs stuck in my head because that is what my son listens to a lot of the time.

Not having enough time. There are so many good things to do and I have never had enough time to do them all.

The justice courts in Nevada are the courts that are more connected to the public and are more likely to hear cases that involve individuals representing themselves. They are have an important role in local search warrants and other preliminary criminal matters.

I believe in the general principles of judicial restraint. A judge’s role is to interpret and apply the law and not generally to make law. Even where the judicial system does make law, that is generally done by appellate courts. A justice of the peace should learn and fairly and equally apply the law.

I have recently been learning about Chief Justice Warren Berger. He understood that the judicial system does have an important role to play in the developing the values and principles that support a healthy society. He recognized that the Court had a role to play in making sure that individual and minority rights of the citizens of the United States were protected from the whims of a majority. I also believe that he along with other justices both past and present have played a pivotal role in ensuring that the U.S. Constitution and the central principles espoused by a democratic government and free society are maintained through times of cultural and societal changes.

Yes. I believe that a judge needs to be able to relate to and understand the people who appear in the judge’s court and empathy plays an important role in that. A judge also needs to help anyone appearing before them to feel like the judge understand their position and is willing to hear them even if the judge cannot issue a decision in their favor under the laws and facts of the case.

No. I do not believe so.

I am running for Henderson Justice Court because I consider the justice courts to be the people’s court. It is a place where many will appear without the assistance of an attorney. I want to be in a position where I can help people resolve disputes even where they cannot afford an attorney. I love Henderson and want to serve the people of Henderson more.

Not necessarily. A judge needs to have experience in a court room and have knowledge and an understanding of the law, the principles of the Nevada and U.S. Constitution, the importance of creating a record for judicial review and in ensuring a fair and structured process. Although government and politics can assist with this, there are a lot of experiences in both the private and public sector that can assist a judge in developing the skills necessary to be successful. A person whose only experience is working in the public sector may miss some important skills that should be developed including a better understanding of how people view the judicial system from the private sector.

My primary concern is finding better ways to deal with the high case load that burdens the judicial system and in maintaining and improving the public trust in the judicial system. The judicial system cannot function if the public does not trust that the system provides consistent way to resolve disputes and promotes both justice and the rule of law.

The Nevada legal system is still relatively young and growing. This creates a unique opportunity to be part of the process of developing a lasting, fair and equitable system as the state grows.

I am not sure. I would definitely consider opportunities to serve on the district court or appellate courts in Nevada. But I would also not mind continuing to serve in the justice court for as long as I am able to serve and the public wants me to serve.

I believe they are an important tool in evaluating a judge’s ability, but not necessarily the only thing that should be considered in evaluating a judge.

Why did the pitcher go to jail? Because he was framed.

Former Lt. Governor of Nevada Mark A. Hutchison
Nevada State Assemblywoman Melissa Hardy
Nevada State Senator Jeff Stone
Former Gaming Commissioner Joe Brown
Planning Commissioner Eric Humes
Planning Commissioner Marissa Guymon
Former Planning Commissioner Todd L. Moody
John T. Steffen, Esq.

Financial transparency and government accountability are absolutely essential to gain and maintain the trust of the public in government institutions. Without the trust of the public, the courts cannot function the way they were intended to.