Hon. James W. Hardesty is a justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada. He was elected to its bench in 2004. He was retained to the seat in subsequent elections. During his tenure there, he has served as the chief justice of the Nevada Supreme Court in 2009, 2015, and 2021.
Hardesty received a B.S. in accounting from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1970. He went on to earn a J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1975.
He began his legal career as an attorney in private practice, a position he maintained until 1998.
It was at that time, Hardesty was elected to the Second Judicial District Court in Washoe County. Later, in 2001, he began serving as its chief judge and would be re-elected to the position in 2003. During that same time, he also served as president of the Nevada Judges Association. While on the District Court, Hardesty helped implement many changes to the Court including early case resolution in criminal matters, an expansion and strengthening of the drug diversion court as well as other specialty courts, helped put into effect strong chief judge rules, as well as streamlined the Courts structure through workload assessments and cross-jurisdictional assignments.
While on the Supreme Court, Hardesty helped to amend the Nevada Constitution to create a Court of Appeals, which was passed by voters in November 2014. As a result, the Nevada Court of Appeals commenced in January of the following year.
He was nominated for the William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence in 2013. In 2020, he was named Alumnus of the Year by the University of Nevada, Reno Nevada Alumni Association.
He has served on the Nevada Supreme Court Task Force, the Nevada Supreme Court Commission on Judicial Funding, the Nevada Supreme Court Committee to Implement Recommendations of Jury Improvement Commission, and the Commission on Statewide Juvenile Justice Reform.
Hardesty has also served on the Nevada Supreme Court’s Bench/Bar Committee, Access to Justice Commission, Permanent Guardianship Commission, the Committee to Study Evidence-Based Pretrial Release, the Commission on Statewide Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the Commission on Preservation, Access, and Sealing of Court Records. He has chaired the Nevada Legislature’s Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice and the Nevada State-Federal Judicial Council.
A frequent lecturer, Hardesty has served as a guest lecturer for the National Judicial College, the State Bar of Nevada, Professional Education, Inc., the Association of Defense Counsel, and the Nevada Justice Association.
From a civic standpoint, he has been an active participant with the Foster Grandparents Program, served on the Nevada State Board of Education, and was a past-president of the Rotary Club of Sparks.
Hardesty, who is a native of Reno, Nevada, is married and has two grown children and several grandchildren.