Miriam Shearing, Nevada's first female district court judge and first female state Supreme Court justice, will be honored October 1 with the high court's Legacy of Justice Award.
She is only the fifth person to receive the award. It will be presented in a ceremony at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas.
Shearing's career on the bench spanned 28 years. She first took the bench as a Las Vegas Justice of the Peace in 1976. In 1982 she won election as a Clark County District Judge.
She became the first woman to serve on the Nevada Supreme Court when she was elected in 1992. She was chief justice both in 1997 and 2004 before her retirement.
The first recipient of the legacy award was former Supreme Court Justice Robert Rose, who served three terms on the high court. The second was presented to two former district judges - Jack Lehman of Clark County and Peter Breen of Washoe - for their work in establishing Nevada's first drug courts.
The other recipient was retired Justice Cliff Young in 2011.
