Interim chief judge appointed at Las Vegas Justice court following Cruz’s abrupt departure

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — After its chief judge abruptly left her leadership position at the Las Vegas Justice Court, the other judges voted in an interim replacement, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

Judge Melisa De La Garza, elected to the justice court in 2019, replaces Judge Cynthia Cruz, who stepped down as chief judge on Sept. 19. De La Garza’s interim term ends at the end of 2024, a court administrator confirmed.

But De La Garza, in an exclusive interview with the 8 News Now Investigators, confirmed that in September she was voted in to become chief judge as of January 2025.

“That vote had already occurred,” De La Garza said. “So basically, rather than have somebody be the interim, it made sense that I step in at this point.”

De La Garza, the court administrator said, was the only judge nominated to take over after Cruz’s departure until De La Garza assumes the chief judge post at the beginning of next year.

Cruz, in her resignation letter, said, “I believe it is time for me to return to the role I was initially elected to serve — sitting on the bench and directly engaging with the public, the role that has always been my deepest calling.” Cruz noted that she would occupy Department 4 of the justice court, which was vacated when Judge Melissa Saragosa left the bench for private practice this summer. Cruz also said she would continue her duties on the court’s drug court and DUI treatment court.

Saragosa ran the resort corridor court, known informally as the ‘Strip court,’ which disbanded shortly after her departure. The cases that were heard in that courtroom – which endeavored to keep repeat offenders away from the world-famous Las Vegas Strip – will now be spread across several other justice court courtrooms, Tick Segerblom, chairman of the Clark County Commission, told the 8 News Now Investigators.

The resort corridor court would prohibit many of its defendants from returning to the Strip for a period of time as part of the violation of the original crime committed on the Strip. They called this an ‘order out.’

“The concept is still in place and Justice Court will still be enforcing the order out,” Segerblom said.

Most people arrested on the Strip will face an order out except for cases involving DUI and domestic violence charges, De La Garza said.

Cruz, on the bench since 2013, is on the November ballot as an incumbent against  Madilyn ‘Leavitt’ Cole, a chief deputy district attorney in Clark County.

De La Garza was a hearing master in the Clark County District Court for several years prior to being elected into Justice Court. In an example of a career coming full circle, De La Garza was also the Las Vegas Justice Court’s first law clerk.

“I do feel privileged and very honored,” she said.

Las Vegas Justice Court had almost 26,000 criminal filings between January and June 30, 2024, De La Garza said, as well as 18,000 criminal filings.

“It is an incredibly busy court,” she said.

De La Garza is currently serving a six-year term.

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