Frances M. Doherty

(2002-2019)

Frances M. Doherty was District Court Judge in Department 12 of the Family Division of the Second Judicial District Court from 2002 - 2019.

Judge Doherty received her law degree from Northern Illinois University. Prior to joining the Court, Judge Doherty worked as a legal services attorney with Washoe Legal Services and in Illinois with Prairie State Legal Services. Judge Doherty also served as a Nevada Deputy Attorney General for the Nevada Commission on Ethics, the Consumer Protection Division, and the Nevada Domestic Violence Task Force.

She served as a Family Division Master in the Second Judicial District Court for five years before being elected to Department 12.

Judge Doherty was elected to the bench in November 2002 and re-elected in 2008 and 2014.

Judge Doherty has spoken and trained nationally on issues affecting children and families in the court system and received recognition for her work in a variety of venues.

She worked to improve adult guardianship case processing and eliminate unnecessary guardianships. Judge Doherty successfully led a statewide initiative to implement Supported Decision-Making as an alternative to guardianship. In May 2019, Nevada became the ninth state in the nation to pass Supported Decision-Making legislation.

Judge Doherty also oversaw Juvenile Delinquency matters from 2003 to 2012 and successfully implemented juvenile justice reforms including the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, which reduced juvenile detention rates by 50%.