The Pahrump Valley Times has learned that a longtime judge in the Pahrump Township Justice Court recently died.
The Honorable Justice of the Peace Tina Brisebill passed away last month from undisclosed causes, according to sources.
Brisebill, who earned a Lifetime Jurist Achievement award, was elected to the court in 2000 and retired at the end of 2012.
Fond remembrances
Former Nye County District Attorney Chris Arabia spoke about Brisebill’s legacy during her time in the Nevada justice system.
“She had been with the court as a clerk for for quite a while before she became the justice of the peace,” he recalled. “She was very courteous, and I would say firm, but fair, would be an accurate description. She was a fair jurist.”
Arabia also recalled the humorous time when he met Brisebill not long after arriving in Pahrump years ago, alongside longtime Pahrump criminal defense attorney Jason Earnest in a courtroom setting.
Humorous observations
“I’m trying to make a good first impression and I was wearing a very nice suit,” Arabia recalled. “We walk in there, and she looks me up and down, and then she looks at Jason and just says to him, ‘who dresses you?’ because he was kind of rumpled as he can sometimes be. When she said that, I thought that these people are kind of ball busters. I think I can get along with them.”
“She was a very fair judge and always pleasant when I appeared in front of her,” said Defense Attorney Jonathan Nelson of Southern Nevada’s JK Nelson Law. “I do remember that the times I appeared in front of her, she was always respectful and pleasant to those who appeared before her.
Yet another attorney, Harry Gensler, brought forth his recollections of appearing before Brisebill during a court hearing years ago.
“I met her when she was still a clerk, and I thought that she was outstanding,” he recollected. “She actually showed that you don’t need to be a lawyer to be a judge. She was extremely fair and she treated all who appeared before her fairly along the way.”
As evidence of her sense of her fairness, civility and impartiality, Gensler recounted a court hearing where he represented a client whose body was completely covered in tattoos, including facials.
“My client makes some kind of remark to the judge under his under his breath about her possibly being biased because of all of his tattoos,” Gensler told the Pahrump Valley Times. “Judge Brisebill then looked right at him and said, ‘I don’t care what people have on the outside because it’s what’s on the inside that counts.’ Her words kind of eased the tension in the courtroom a little bit and I’ll never forget that moment.”
At present there is no information available regarding a possible public memorial service to honor Brisebill’s life and service in Nevada.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com, or on X, formerly Twitter: @pvtimes