Ron Parraguirre, son of Gardnerville native and former district court judge Paul C. Parraguirre, will assume the position of chief justice of the Nevada Supreme Court in 2010.
Parraguirre is one year from completing his first six-year term on the high court. He has already announced plans to seek a second term.
A fourth-generation Nevadan, he has praised recent changes in the court to ensure "that every citizen has a voice in the system."
Before his election succeeding Justice Deborah Agosti, who retired, he was a district judge in Clark County for five years. Before that he served three terms on the municipal court bench.
After law school, he went to Washington, D.C., to work for then-U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt. He later became counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on criminal law.
Parraguirre's family emigrated from Extalar, Spain, to Northern California and Northern Nevada in the 1870s.
His father Paul and two uncles all graduated from Denver School of Law, and made news when all three were admitted to the Nevada bar on the same day. Paul Parraguirre died in 2006.
Chief justice of the Nevada court is a rotating position that changes at the end of each calendar year. Outgoing Chief Justice Jim Hardesty is also seeking a second term on the high court in the 2010 elections.
