Department No. 5 

David Clifton serves as Justice of the Peace in Department 5 of the Reno Justice Court, having been elected in 2010.  A  resident of the City of Reno since 1964, he attended local schools, including the University of Nevada, Reno, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration in 1980.

Judge Clifton obtained a Juris Doctor Degree from the McGeorge School of Law of the University of the Pacific in Sacramento, California, in 1983.  He served as the law clerk for the Honorable James J. Guinan in the Second Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada from 1983 to 1984.  Upon completion of his clerkship, he secured a position as an associate attorney in the Reno law firm of Sala, McAuliffe, White and Long. 

In 1986 he was hired by Washoe County District Attorney Mills Lane to prosecute criminal cases.  He was promoted to Chief Deputy Criminal Attorney in 1994 and held that position until 2009.  In 1996 he originated and supervised the office’s Domestic Violence Team and was also in charge of the Sex Crimes Unit for over ten years. 

From 1994 to 2009, Judge Clifton was a member of the Washoe County Domestic Violence Task Force and from 2007 to 2009 was Chairman of the Washoe County Fatality Review Committee, serving under the direction of that Task Force.  He was also Treasurer of the Washoe County Public Attorney’s Association from 1995 to 2009.   

In addition to prosecuting many high-profile cases within Washoe County, Judge Clifton was also heavily involved in teaching and training peace officers, investigators and prosecutors, as well as members of the judiciary, at various academies, colleges, seminars and conferences throughout Nevada and at other sites within the United States.