Cotter C. Conway has an extensive resume, with 30 years practicing law, and recently serving as a judge pro tem and as a part-time Court Referee in Reno Justice court for traffic cases and small claims. He’s now running for Reno Justice of the Peace Department 2, a seat that’s been vacant since the late 2020 retirement of Pete Sferrazza, who had been in the position for 13 years, after serving as Washoe County Commissioner and Reno mayor.
The Reno Justice Court has six judges on six year terms, with four of those positions currently up for election, including Department 2. “What they do is they handle everything from misdemeanors, preliminary hearings, small claims actions, and other matters as well,” Conway explained to us during a recent podcast interview, seeing it as a natural continuation of what he’s currently doing.
He explains running for judicial office is different than competing for other offices though. “We don't have the ability to start,campaigning on a policy ground or what we would do if we made it to the bench. So I think the important thing for a judicial candidate is to highlight what their experience is both on the bench and what they've done in practice.”
In this race against Kendra Bertschy and Bruce Hahn he views himself as having the most experience of the three candidates, having also been recently assigned to a specialty court in Reno Municipal Court for younger offenders.
“I think judge campaigns are often a little nicer … there's not a lot of dirt being brought up. We kind of focus on what our experience is, or lack thereof. I think in this case I have the experience and the qualifications to do the job.”
Conway sees the legal process in lower courts as trying to help people, and more rehabilitative than punitive, especially when drug use is part of the equation.
“It’s all misdemeanors and there we're really trying to help these individuals. We're trying to get them the treatment they need. We're trying to get them into either mental health situations where they can get counseling and therapy. We're trying to get them to break the cycle of addiction … I like dealing with the people that have misdemeanors because I think we can do more for them and try to, to get them on the right track before they become felons,” he said.
Having more speciality courts of late in Reno, he says, has helped people including the unhoused. “People that were living on our streets because they would just continue to commit similar crimes, whether it be trespassing, whether it be, drunk and disorderly, whether it be other things related to their homelessness, petty theft, things like this. And I believe that allowing these specialty courts to seek ways to treat these people because a lot of times, it's not really their fault and to find ways to treat the underlying symptoms that are causing the homelessness are causing the petty crime is a huge change in the practice of law over my last 30 years,” he said.
The primary like for other elections ends June 14th, with the top two vote getters going to the November runoff.
Conway has a website and is working on posting to social media. He has run in elections before but lost twice, so he’s not taking anything for granted in 2022.
“The first one I really kind of didn't do a lot, because I didn't know what I was doing. It was more to just have the experience. The second time I learned that I need to do more with social media. That's what I really kind of learned. I learned that I really need to highlight what my qualities are and what my experiences are.”
He says his family is fully behind him as well as he spends more of his time boosting his campaign. His wife April Conway works for the Reno Housing Authority as a Public Information Officer, his son just graduated from a Marine Corps bootcamp and his daughter attends a local high school. Conway sees himself very much part of the community, and sees a judge’s role as helping it become a better, safer place for all.