By Kerry Lyman
The Fernley City Council approved an interlocal agreement last Wednesday with Lyon County to consolidate the city’s Municipal Court with the county’s Justice Court upon completion of the Justice Court remodel that is currently underway.
This will free up space in City Hall to house the city’s growing number of employees, eliminating the need for a modular building at City Hall that was being considered in earlier city budget deliberations to house the city’s growing employee base.
The interlocal agreement takes effect at the end of June. However, the Justice Court remodel is not expected to be completed until early next year. As a result, both the Justice Court and the Municipal Court will continue to operate out of City Hall until completion of the Justice Court remodel.
A Memorandum of Understanding between the city and county was entered into late last year to temporarily have both courts operate out of City Hall and use the city council chambers as the courtroom during the Justice Court remodel.
Judge Lori Matheus, who serves as both the Fernley Municipal Court Judge and the Canal Township Court Justice of Peace, suggested the court consolidation remain after seeing a higher degree of coordination of cases and efficiency in administering the court docket during the temporary arrangement, according to former City Manager Benjamin Marchant.
“This experience led Judge Matheus to consider retaining those benefits by continuing this arrangement when the Justice Court remodel is complete,” he said in April.
According to the interlocal agreement, each entity will continue to retain and manage their own
revenues collected from fines and fees, to pay its own employees, judges, prosecutors and public defenders, and to retain their own assets. The agreement will be presented to the Lyon County Commission for approval on July 3.
The current Justice of the Peace will also serve as the city’s Municipal Court Judge. Despite having the same presiding judge, the Justice Court and the Municipal Court remain separate legal entities with distinct jurisdictional authority, case types, and statutory obligations. The agreement states that the Judge shall ensure that municipal and justice court matters are adjudicated in accordance with their respective laws and procedures.
Either party may terminate the agreement with or without cause upon 90 days written notice to the other party or upon mutual consent. However, the agreement will automatically renew on July 1 unless either party delivers written notice by April 30 of their intent not to renew the agreement for the following fiscal year.
In a related matter, the Fernley City Council also voted last Wednesday to increase the pay for the Municipal Court judge from $45,000 a year to $95,000 a year to bring the salary in line with other Municipal Court judges serving in comparable jurisdictions.
During the 2025 fiscal year budget discussions, the city adopted a new class and compensation study that resulted in wage increases for the majority of the city's staff. The Municipal Court Judge position was not included in this study, because it contracts for the position and does not have a city employee filling the position. The amendment adding $50,000 annually to the contract brings the salary range for the position in line with comparable entities.
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