District Court Judge, Eighth Judicial District, Family Division, Dept. R

• Incumbent District Court Judge
  • Practice areas: civil (family law)

Incumbent District Court Judge, Eighth Judicial District, Department R

• Judge Henderson did not response to interview requests, so he did not identify significant cases.
• He presided over the custody hearings for the children of Ashley Prince, killed in the 2024 Summerlin law office shooting.

Not identified by the candidate in his campaign materials.

• Endorsements:
  • Veterans in Politics International
  • The Armed Forces Chamber
  • Nevada Veterans Association
  • Las Vegas Police Protective Association
  • Las Vegas Firefighters
  • Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers
• Major donors:
  • According to his most recent filing with the Nevada Secretary of State, Henderson raised $5,500 in the first quarter and spent $13,038.
  • Questions exist regarding Henderson’s Contributions and Expenses forms over multiple years and his Financial Disclosure statements.
    • The last time Henderson reported contributions to his campaign (before his April 2026 report) was in 2007, raising $75,060.
    • Since 2007, he reported spending $27,769 on his 2025 annual disclosures.
    • He reported spending $150 on his 2020 annual form.
    • He reported spending $8,212 on his 2019 annual form.
    • The monies spent may reach back to the 2007 fundraising, but it stands out that nearly all of his reports indicate no contributions and no expenses over the years for his campaigns.
    • Because of the lack of recent contributions, little information exists about his donors.
      • The donors for his 2026 contributions are:
        • Hwang Law Group (Las Vegas, NV) ($1,000)
        • Kelleher & Kelleher (Henderson, NV) ($2,500)
        • Chesnoff & Schonfeld (Las Vegas, NV) ($1,000)
        • The Abrams and Mayo Law Firm LLC (Las Vegas, NV) ($1,000)
    • Additionally, the forms in the 2007 cycle are all done by hand, making some contributions difficult to discern. However, it appears that the Judge Henderson loaned his campaign money in order to cover shortfalls with the campaign. (Records available from Nevada Secretary of State's office)

Not identified

• Attorney
  • Practice areas:
    • Federal bankruptcy law: 2009 – 2026
    • Family law: 2014 – 2026
    • Criminal defense: 2009 – 2026
    • General civil: 2009 - 2026
  • Prior job titles:
    • Associate attorney: 2009 - 2016
    • Senior associate attorney: 2016 - 2025
    • Junior partner: 2025 - now

• When she graduated law school in 2008, the recession hit and there was a hiring freeze in place for a lot of places, including the district attorney’s office where she wanted to work. So she took a job at a civil firm (Albright, Stoddard, Warnick & Albright) and focused on passing the bar. It took her a few tries but she passed in October 2009 and she started practicing federal bankruptcy law on the debtor side right away.
• She said she enjoyed that work so she kept at it for quite awhile and practiced almost exclusively bankruptcy and related cases for a few firms through 2014 (Omar Law Group, Haines & Krieger, and Bourassa Law Group). She got to do a lot of interesting types of cases such as foreclosure mediations to help keep people in their homes and petitions for judicial review in civil state court when the banks tried to foreclose improperly. She also participated in some of the landmark cases deciding that a homeowners association could wipe out a mortgage through its superpriority if it foreclosed on a house.
• Then she worked at Reza Athari & Associates from 2014 – 2017 doing bankruptcy cases but also all general state cases such as criminal defense, custody and divorce, and general litigation.
• Then she found her forever home in Octpber 2017 and she has been at Nevada Family Law Group ever since. She almost exclusively handled family law cases of all shapes and sizes but she also had the freedom to practice other areas when she want such as bankruptcy, criminal defense and general civil.

• Candidate said probably her most significant case was one that she won at trial but lost on appeal. “It involved a termination of parental rights case where the Dad was found to be a danger to his children during the divorce. In fact, dad had no visitation at all with the children until he addressed his mental health issues and complied with the decree, which he never did, so we moved to terminate his rights on a failure to parentally adjust basis. The trial court agreed with us and granted the termination but the Nevada Supreme Court disagreed and reversed because they frankly just did not want people to be able to do what we did. This case is an important lesson to me that the law and facts can be on your side but if a court does not want to have that be the ultimate outcome, they will find a way to deny it," she said.
• “Another recent extraordinary case concerned relocation of a child out of Nevada. This was one where we lost at the initial trial in 2023 so mom was allowed to relocate full time with their 4-year-old to Hawaii which was devastating. But then we were able to overturn that decision about a year later based on mom’s educational neglect where she kept the child out of preschool some 60-odd days, without telling dad, to the point the child was significantly behind in kindergarten. Mixed in with that, mom was also intentionally and willfully concealing the child from dad when mom came to Nevada from Hawaii even though they were 15 minutes down the road. Now, my client has the child full time in Nevada again and he is thriving under dad’s care”.
• She has also had many substance abuse custody cases and said one in particular stood out to her as an amazing trial moment where she successfully proved that the mom had submitted false drug tests into evidence. "It felt like a real-life Perry Mason moment and resulted in my client getting primary custody with only supervised time to mom,” she said.
• One other notable case was a divorce where she felt very strongly that they would likely prevail on the asset division portion, but lose on custody, yet they won on both. That case was meaningful to her because the court ordered participation in the UNLV mediation program prior to trial, during which the other side offered nothing. "So they had to stick to their guns and go all the way to trial where we ended up prevailing on both issues, financial and custody," she said. It was very humbling to the candidate and a reminder to believe in your clients and to never fall prey to the temptation to take the easy way out and settle for less than what your client deserves.

• Candidate said: “In my view, the role of a judge is to serve as the neutral and objective anchor of the legal system. A judge must ensure that the rule of law prevails over individual bias, providing a forum where every participant is afforded full due process and respect.”
• “I believe the most important qualities on the bench are judicial temperament and intellectual honesty. A judge must possess the patience to listen and the humility to set aside personal preferences in favor of legal precedent. I also believe that the judge’s role is to remain calm and respectful during hearings and trials, particularly in family court where we are surrounded by pro se litigants with intense and chaotic feelings. Furthermore, a judge must be a diligent steward of the court’s resources, understanding that efficiency is a component of justice. Ultimately, the bench requires a person who is as committed to the fairness of the process as they are to the accuracy of the outcome.”

• Nevada Family Law Group
• Firmmate and former state Sen. Keith Pickard
• Major donors
  • $5,000 from Kris Englestad
  • $2,000 from Nevada Family Law Group

• She was awarded the 2017 Louis Weiner Award for Service to Victims of Domestic Violence
• Sh carries 2 – 4 pro bono cases at any given time from the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada
• She had a Child Advocacy Program case for five years until she aged out of the system
• She also participates in weekly Ask-A-Lawyer sessions as often as she can

Owner, Petsas Law Group PLLC

• Petsas Law Group PLLC (Owner)
  • Represents clients in Family Court matters, as well as criminal and civil matters.
• Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada (Children’s Attorney)
  • Represented children in dependency proceedings, as well as worked with Clark County Family Services to ensure proper care of the children in their custody.
• Clark County District Attorney – Criminal Division (Deputy District Attorney)
  • Represented the State of Nevada in Justice Court for misdemeanor and felony proceedings.

Petsas listed none

• Long-serving community member representing children and other vulnerable clients in family and dependency proceedings.
• Former teacher who understands the ripple effects of judicial decisions on the lives of children and is “mindful of the real-world impact of judicial decisions.”
• Values fairness and professionalism in both process and relationships.
• Slogans:
  • “For Justice That’s Fair – Petsas Is There”
  • “Guided by Fairness, Grounded in Respect”

• Endorsements:
  • Clark County Prosecutors Association
  • Former Nevada State Senator Mo Denis
• Major donors:
  • According to his most recent Contributions and Expenses Report filed with the Nevada Secretary of State, Petsas raised $121,878.02 in contributions and spent $69,351.85.
  • His highest donors have all contributed $10,000 at the start of his campaign.
    • Pyramid Lake Holdings LLC (Las Vegas, NV)
    • Troy G. Kolebuck (Las Vegas, NV)
    • Chase M. Kolebuck (Las Vegas, NV)
    • Alexis Kolebuck (Las Vegas, NV)
    • Jane Carol Reddoch (Las Vegas, NV)
    • Michael Reddoch (Las Vegas, NV)
    • Denise L. White (Las Vegas, NV)
    • Diandra Kamille Roth (Las Vegas, NV)
    • Sean Christian McGarry (Las Vegas, NV)
    • Erin McGarry (Las Vegas, NV)
    • Chandler J. Lewis (Las Vegas, NV)
  • Petsas has receive nine contributions from individuals with out-of-state addresses.

Petsas listed none