By Honorable Lloyd D. George
I would like to share with you the talent and dedication brought to our area by Judge Stephen J. Dahl. Recently, the North Las Vegas Township Justice of the Peace was recognized by Brigham Young University as the 2008 Law School Honored Alumnus. This distinction goes to a recipient that demonstrates a life of service to profession, community, family and ideals. Nearly 1,000 people attended the award ceremony, including several general authorities.

Judge Dahl graduated from the J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1983 and began his law career in Clark County. He worked in private practice with the Clark County Defender’s Office before taking the bench in 1995. In 2007, Judge Dahl served as President of both the Clark County Bar Association and the Nevada Judges Association/Nevada Judges of Limited Jurisdiction. He was a member of the Clark County Pro Bono Foundation from 1997-2004, and president of the Foundation from 2002-04. He currently is president of the Clark County Bar Foundation, and serves on four different commissions and committees charged with legal oversight.

Judge Dahl has been active in the Clark County Bar Foundation’s Trial by Peers program, and has been named Judge of the Year for that program three times. The recipient of many awards over the years, Judge Dahl was invited in 2008 to join the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.
For the last thirteen years, he has sponsored an annual art contest for children in the North Las Vegas Township, with the artwork being used to decorate the courthouse.

Judge Dahl, along with another colleague, created the “life of crime” family education program in which he has spent eight years supervising and participating in monthly presentations to thousands of local children and their parents. Judge Dahl also has participated in a select program organized by the Librarian of Congress which offers insight into American federal and state court systems to foreign judges and administrators. Over 50 Russian and Ukranian judges have been addressed by Judge Dahl and have observed first-hand his skillful conduct of proceedings in his court.

Judge Dahl will hopefully continue to play a significant role in that program, and our system of justice in Southern Nevada.