Shearing assumes title of chief justice

Miriam Shearing will finish her career on the Nevada Supreme Court as chief justice.

Shearing, the first woman elected to the state's high court, was also its first female chief justice in 1997. She has one year left in her second term and has said she won't seek re-election.

She said her goal will be to move toward a paperless court, adding that will help improve public access.

"Public access would be enhanced through the online filing and retrieval of court documents," she said.

She said she will also continue working with commissions on court funding, the rural courts and on the jury improvement commission.

The position of chief justice rotates among members of the court in Nevada and is available to them during the final two years of a six year term.

Shearing replaces Deborah Agosti, who has been chief justice for the past year. Agosti remains on the court and has resumed a full caseload.

Shearing's judicial career is a list of firsts. In 1976, she became the first woman elected as a Las Vegas justice of the peace. She was also Clark County's first elected female district judge before running for and winning the Supreme Court position in 1992.

The chief justice presides over the court and handles administrative matters. The chief justice isn't assigned a regular caseload but sits when members of the three-member northern and southern panels must recuse themselves for any reason and sits on all cases heard before the entire seven-member court.