District Judge Jason Woodbury announced today that he will seek election to continue serving in Department 1 of the First Judicial District Court.
Woodbury was appointed District Judge by Governor Joe Lombardo in 2024 following the retirement of longtime judge, Todd Russell.
Prior to the Governor’s appointment, Woodbury served as Carson City District Attorney for nearly 10 years, winning election three times.
Before that, he worked for 10 years at Kaempfer Crowell, a statewide law firm, where he practiced mainly commercial litigation.
Woodbury called his first year as District Judge “both challenging and rewarding in ways I couldn’t have imagined.”
“There’s no way to prepare for it,” he said, adding, “There are days when our court probates a will, holds a child-custody hearing, sentences a criminal defendant and finalizes an adoption. In fact, that’s a fairly typical Monday morning.”
He expressed appreciation for the mentorship of former judges, noting that “Judge Maddox, Judge Wilson, and especially Judge Russell have all been incredibly generous with their time and guidance.”
Woodbury said if elected his top priority is to fully implement an electronic filing system, which he added is “the highest priority for all the judges here.”
In the meantime, he highlighted the court’s public portal, recently added to its website, which provides free, 24-hour access to filings in designated high-profile cases.
“We don’t have the resources to upload every case,” he said, “but for matters that attract significant public interest, the portal allows anyone to follow the case in real time.”
Woodbury said he is committed to upholding the court’s standard of excellence.
“My first legal job was clerking for Judge Mike Griffin in Department 1, and I practiced law in front of Judge Russell for almost 20 years. No one ever walked out of that courtroom feeling like they hadn’t been treated fairly, even if the decision didn’t go their way. I’m working really hard to live up to that standard for the people of Carson City and Storey County.”
