Jessica K. Peterson
IncumbentA private-practice attorney for two decades, Peterson, who was also a lawyer in Michigan, was elected as a district judge in November 2021.
A private-practice attorney for two decades, Peterson, who was also a lawyer in Michigan, was elected as a district judge in November 2021.
Candidate Deep Dive
Peterson, Jessica K.Years Licensed in NV
- Nevada: 18 years; admitted Dec. 4, 2007; Bar No. 10670
- Michigan: about 26 years, based on a 2000 admission following law school graduation that year
Trial Stats
None reported from her time practicing before taking the bench. Peterson reports that she has presided over 27 jury trials: 24 civil and three criminal.
Ethics History
- No negative ethics history.
- No Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline proceeding, censure, suspension or public reprimand involving Peterson.
- Her 2025 judicial financial disclosure reports no compensation for extrajudicial activities; no gifts, bequests, favors or loans exceeding $200; and no reimbursements or fee waivers exceeding $200. All four disclosure categories are marked N/A.
Sanctions
None.
Title
- District court judge for the Eighth Judicial District Court
- Also serves as continuing legal education faculty for the National Business Institute
- Practice areas in current position
- Civil litigation (general civil actions filed in district court, including personal injury, contract, etc.)
- Criminal (felony and gross misdemeanor prosecutions, including sexual assault trials)
- Probate (decedents’ estates, guardianship and related trust and estate matters)
- Prior job titles (chronological)
- Junior partner, Flangas McMillan Law Group (later Flangas Dalacas Law Group and Flangas Law Group), Las Vegas: 2007 to January 2021
- Represented plaintiffs and defendants, businesses and individuals, in complex business litigation, family law, landlord-tenant, personal injury, employment, probate and defamation matters, in forums ranging from municipal court to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
- Court-appointed arbitrator, Eighth Judicial District Court: 2016 to 2020
- Nevada’s Court-Annexed Arbitration Program routes most civil cases valued at $50,000 or less to a private attorney-arbitrator who conducts a hearing and issues a binding award subject to a party’s right to request a trial de novo. Service is part-time and concurrent with her work in private practice.
- Truancy diversion judge: three years (dates unspecified)
- The Truancy Diversion Program places volunteer attorneys and judges in school settings to hold informal hearings with chronically absent students. Participants are volunteers; the role carries no judicial appointment or adjudicative authority
- Solo practitioner, northern Michigan: December 2004 to 2007
- Practice concentrated in family law and misdemeanor criminal defense
- Zoning administrator, Banks Township, Michigan: December 2004 to 2007
- Associate, Kitch Drutchas Wagner, Detroit: 2000 to December 2004
- Handled medical malpractice, premises liability, asbestos litigation and regulatory compliance defense
- Extern, Judge Charles Johnson, 57th District Court for Emmet County, Michigan: during or shortly after law school, about 1999 to 2000
Career Highlights
- Education
- Law degree, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, 2000, cum laude
- Bachelor's degree, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington, 1996
- Associate degree, Highline Community College, 1994
- Career milestones
- Defeated appointed incumbent Trevor Atkin in the Nov. 3, 2020, general election for Department 8, taking office Jan. 4, 2021.
- Atkin had been appointed by then-Gov. Steve Sisolak in August 2019 to succeed retiring Judge Douglas Smith.
- Presided over the Nathan Chasing Horse sexual assault trial, one of the highest-profile criminal cases in Nevada in 2026. The jury convicted on 13 of 21 counts on Jan. 30, 2026; Peterson imposed a sentence of 37 years to life on April 27, 2026.
- Serves as continuing legal education faculty for the National Business Institute.
- No awards or publications were reported by Peterson or located.
Significant Cases
- Peterson routinely identifies one significant case: Gillespie v. Council, 2016 Nev. App. Unpub. LEXIS 359
- This case addressed the constitutionality of issuing a preliminary injunction against speech in a defamation context, ultimately holding that while a preliminary injunction can be a proper remedy to enjoin speech found to be defamatory under Nevada law, such an injunction must be narrowly tailored to avoid violating the First Amendment.
Judicial Philosophy
- Peterson's core message is strict adherence to law paired with compassionate judgment, and a claim to fairness derived from having represented both plaintiffs and defendants.
- She describes having practiced on "both sides of the 'v'" during her two decades in private practice.
- Emphasizes delivering fair, timely, well-reasoned, law-based decisions and ensuring litigants understand the basis for her rulings.
- Emphasizes rehabilitative opportunity, stating that both defendants and victims have thanked her for chances to turn their lives around in criminal cases.
- In response to criticism of her temperament and legal knowledge, she disputed the accuracy of survey comments about her understanding of the law, acknowledged that she sometimes loses patience and said she has been working on it, and characterized her divided score by saying, "People either love me or they don't."
- In her 2020 campaign, she said she built her career around the goal of becoming a judge and described her opponent as having practiced primarily insurance defense.
Endorsements & Contributions
- 2026 Endorsements:
- FAQ - A Coalition for a Fair and Qualified Nevada Judiciary
- Professional Fire Fighters of Nevada
- Southern Nevada Building Trades Unions
- National Association of Public Safety Officers
- Iron Workers Local 433
- IATSE Local 720
- Nevada Property Rights Alliance
- National Organization for Women
- Asian American Group LV
- Nevada State AFL-CIO
- Nevada Veterans Caucus
- 2020 Endorsements:
- Nevada Veterans Association
- Independent Black Voters
- Clark County Black Caucus
- The Spectrum
- None of her 2020 endorsers appear on her 2026 list, and none of her 2026 endorsers appear on the 2020 list. Her support base has turned over entirely, shifting largely from community groups to organized labor.
- Contributions
- Nevada permits $5,000 per contributor for the primary and $5,000 for the general election, $10,000 total per election cycle.
- Through June 30, 2026, Peterson raised $287,059.47, spent $44,549.88 and reported $224,735.53 cash on hand.
- Roughly three-quarters of her itemized money is traceable to the legal profession. The remaining quarter comes from individuals whose profession could not be confirmed. Percentages below are shares of the $285,551.29 in itemized 2026 contributions and are rounded.
- Her money base is overwhelmingly the plaintiffs' bar and law firms. The great majority of itemized contributions come from Las Vegas law firms and practicing attorneys.
- Of her contributions, 47 percent ($133,400) came from plaintiffs' personal injury firms, which represent victims of car accidents, slip-and-falls, medical malpractice and wrongful death, and which are paid a percentage of what they recover.
- Top donors: Eglet Adams, Jacqueline Bretell (of Bighorn Law), Law Office of Gina M. Corena, Darshpaul "Paul" Padda, Richard Harris, Ramzy Ladah, Claggett & Sykes, Naqvi Law, Moss Berg, Valiente Mott, GGRM, Henness & Haight, Hicks & Brasier, Christian Morris, J Cogburn Law, The Cottner Firm, Price Beckstrom, Blackburn Wirth, De Castroverde, H & P Law and the Powell Law Firm.
- Of her contributions, 11 percent ($31,000) came from business, commercial or full-service firms, which represent companies rather than individuals in contract disputes, corporate litigation, real estate and regulatory work. Several are national firms with Las Vegas offices. This list includes Hutchison & Steffen, Kemp Jones, Maier Gutierrez, Spencer Fane, Holland & Hart, Greenberg Traurig, Gerrard & Cox, Erika Turner of Garman Turner Gordon and appellate specialist Joel Henriod of Lewis Roca.
- Of her contributions, 5.5 percent ($15,700) came from the criminal defense bar, including David Z. Chesnoff, Richard A. Schonfeld, Rasmussen Law P.C., Robert Draskovich, Elliot Blut, Lance Maningo, Michael Pariente, Nicholas Wooldridge, Tom Grover and his firm Black Rock Legal, and Malcolm LaVergne.
- Of her contributions, 4.4 percent ($12,500) came from probate, trust and estate firms, which handle wills, trusts, decedents' estates, guardianships and disputes among heirs: Solomon Dwiggins Freer & Steadman, Lee Kiefer & Park, and John Michaelson Ltd. This category is overrepresented relative to its share of the bar, which tracks the probate assignment in her department.
- Of her contributions, 3.2 percent ($9,100) came from insurance and civil defense firms, which are hired by insurance companies and businesses to defend against injury claims and sit on the opposite side of the personal injury docket: D. Lee Roberts Jr. and Colby Balkenbush of Weinberg Wheeler, Hayes Wakayama LLC, Thomas Winner of Winner & Sherrod, Wilson Elser, Joseph Garin of Lipson Neilson and Patricia Daehnke.
- The plaintiffs' bar outweighs the defense bar by roughly 15-to-1.
- Of her contributions, 2.1 percent ($6,030) came from employment lawyers, who represent workers in discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and wage claims: Christian Gabroy and Kaine Messer, both of Gabroy Law Offices.
- Of her contributions, 23 percent ($66,300) came from individual donors whose profession could not be confirmed but who appear to be nonlawyers, real estate developers or politicians.
- Six contributors gave the $10,000 cycle maximum: Law Office of Gina M. Corena PLLC, Jacqueline Bretell, Hutchison & Steffen PLLC, Eglet Adams, Darshpaul Padda and the Powell Law Firm.
- No political action committee contributions were located, despite 11 organizational endorsements including several unions. The unions endorsed without funding the campaign.
- No contribution from a prosecutor, police union or law enforcement association appears in either 2026 report, notwithstanding her endorsement from the National Association of Public Safety Officers and the fact that her opponent is a career prosecutor.
Community Service
- North Las Vegas Rotary Club: current member and past president
- Rotary is a service organization of local business and professional leaders; the club presidency is a one-year elected leadership term.
- Rape Crisis Center: former member, board of directors
- The Rape Crisis Center is the Southern Nevada nonprofit providing crisis intervention and advocacy for sexual assault survivors. Board service is a governance role, not a clinical one.
- Truancy diversion judge: three years of volunteer service
- NAACP: member
- Southern Nevada Association of Women Attorneys: member
- Compassion Initiative, 100 Women Who Care, LIMA Diversion Program and Vegas Masketeers: ongoing volunteer involvement, including work with the homeless population
- 100 Women Who Care is a collective-giving group whose members pool recurring donations to a locally selected charity. Vegas Masketeers was formed to produce masks for homeless residents in Nevada.
