Before the Court en banc. Opinion by Justice Parraguirre.
In this appeal, the Court considered whether justices of the peace may take felony pleas while serving as district court masters. The Court held that a lawfully appointed district court master, in accordance with EDCR 1.48, could accept a guilty plea. To address this question, the Court considered: (1) whether NRS 3.245 violates the separation of powers doctrine, and (2) whether EDCR 1.48 falls within the Legislature’s grant of authority under NRS 3.245. With respect to NRS 3.245, the Court concluded that it is a proper delegation of power to the judiciary to set forth the specific duties of district court masters. The Legislature explicitly delegated to the district court the authority to appoint masters for “criminal proceedings to perform certain subordinate or administrative duties that the Nevada Supreme Court has approved to be assigned to such master.” Further, the powers delegated to the judiciary pursuant to NRS 3.245 fall within the judicial function, which is defined as “the exercise of judicial authority to hear and determine questions in controversy that are proper to be examined in a court of justice.” Thus, NRS 3.245 is an appropriate delegation of ministerial power to the judiciary such that it does not violate Article 3, Section 1 of the Nevada Constitution. With respect to EDCR 1.48, the Court determined that this rule permits individuals who are qualified based on their judicial experience to be appointed to serve as district court masters. The fact that justices of the peace might also serve as district court masters is only incidental to their roles as justices of the peace and is not an unconstitutional judicial expansion of the justice court’s jurisdiction. Reversed. (Lisa M. Wiltshire Alstead, Associate in the Reno office of McDonald Carano Wilson.)
