Clark County's headquarters in Las Vegas
Clark County's headquarters are located in Las Vegas. This city became regarded as the entertainment capital of the globe due to its vast nightlife, entertainment, and gambling. The city is also a popular tourism destination for visitors from all over the world. Visitors are said to like visiting this location because of the abundance of adult entertainment and partying, earning it the nickname Sin City. The city, which is located in the state of Nevada, has a total area of 135.8 square meters and is elevated up to 610 meters above sea level. The city has a population of 632,912 people and a population density of 4,300 per square meter. The population is settled in urban, metropolitan and combined statistical area of the city. Government of this city is headed by Carolyn Goodman who is the council manager, consulting with mayor pro team Steve Ross and city manager Betsy Fretwell. The city’s jurisdiction is controlled under the justice system of Clark County. Budgeting is therefore controlled by the county’s planning. Some of the major law courts in Las Vegas include; Las Vegas Municipal Courts and North Las Vegas Justice Court.
Financing of the courts
Each financial year, the courts are allocated funds from either the federal government for the federal courts or state government if it is a state court. The court can also raise funds from fines, bails and bonds charged on offenders (Coan, 2012). All the courts finances are channeled to the registrar who then controls regular expenditures or any additional funds from the state or federal governments. These funds are used in the court's daily operational activities. Some of the most common court expenditures include; overhead expenses in lighting systems and courtroom maintenance, printing of documents, remuneration of court officials, and other workers. In case of inadequacies, the court can borrow funds from the registry for future refunds. On the other hand, excess funds collected by the court are remitted to the state government for other development purposes. Being one of the sources of revenues sources for Clark county and Nevada State, the court's registrar is charged with the responsibility of regular remittance and verification of the financial books of account.
Challenges and expansion plans
Even though the court is occasioned with many cases to be solved, it is not well equipped or renovated to accommodate all the hearing sessions. Clark County needs to resolve the matters raised. Since Las Vegas is a popular place, frequented by global tourists, there is a need for the expansion and furnishing of the rooms. Furthermore, more court workers are required since the volume of office work is increasing every day. More funds will also be needed to accomplish all these tasks since the amounts raised from the court system are never enough to perform all these operations (Cross & Donelson, 2010). Therefore, there is a need for support from the state government to assist the completion of these plans.
Audit and competence test
The court also needs to conduct an audit report on its financial transactions to help in understanding how much time it can take for the court to raise its own finance. An audit will also reveal how the court's finances have been spent over time. Due to the high number of cases being heard and determined in this court, the amounts might seemingly exceed whatever is presented in the finance books. Therefore, external auditors can be hired to perform an analysis of the court's financial systems.
Since Las Vegas court is the largest court in Clark County, there is a need for more competent judicial officers responsible for handling complex cases. It has been observed that most cases presented in this court are later referred to other courts or similar level or federal courts. Most of the reasons cited for parties' decision to move their cases were determined to be the incompetence and biasedness of the sitting judges and court attorneys. The judicial system of Clark County can initiate a competence test and rotational audit of the currently sitting judges and attorneys. This will restore people's faith in the state courts again. It is important to note that all these exercises might require additional financial input that has to be raised by the court.
Funding challenges facing Las Vegas Municipality
Due to insufficient funding blamed on a decrease in the property tax and sale tax revenues, the Las Vegas Municipality had to outsource funds for meeting their budget and paying deficits. Within the following fiscal year, the Las Vegas municipality is planning to renovate the court building and hire more staff that can be helpful in the execution of duties.
Legal Service Corporation funds in Clark County
The table below is a representation of the amounts in dollars that the Legal Service Corporation has spent in Clarks County.
The figures reveal amounts of money, having been spent by the legal service corporation in supporting low-income Americans in their court cases. Plus other sources of income, the municipal city of Las Vegas can accumulate enough capital to renovate offices and hire new workers.
References
Coan, A. B. (2012). Judicial capacity and the substance of constitutional law. Yale LJ, 122, 422.
Cross, F. B., & Donelson, D. C. (2010). Creating quality courts. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 7(3), 490-510.
