LAS VEGAS -- The woman at the center of a scandal involving a family court judge has applied for a job that reports directly to that judge.
Sources told the I-Team that former deputy district attorney Lisa Willardson, who was romantically linked to Judge Stephen Jones, is among the applicants for an open hearing master position.
Jones will have a role in selecting which candidate gets the job.
Shortly after the relationship between Jones and Williardson was exposed, then District Attorney David Roger fired Willardson and the state's Judicial Discipline Commission began investigating Jones.
I-Team: Cases Possible Affected by Alleged Improper Relationship
Williardson was a prosecutor who appeared before Jones.
Several months later, Willardson and 45 others have applied for a job as a hearing master over child welfare issues -- a position that Jones oversees.
The job was initially posted on Clark County's website in late May, requiring a minimum of five years experience as a practicing attorney.
Shortly thereafter, it was inexplicably pulled, then reposted on the district court's website with lesser requirements.
Instead of five years as a working lawyer, the job required just five years with a law license.
The last time this job was open in 2008 it required eight years of full-time legal work and at least four of those years as a practicing attorney.
Jones said the family court judges decided to lower the standards in order to be consistent with the court's local rule.
It lists the minimum requirement for hearing masters at five years with a law license.
After an initial screening of the job applicants, a small panel of judges will select the top 10 to 12 candidates.
That list will then go to a second committee made up of judges Jones, Frank Sullivan and Bill Henderson.
They will trim the list to the top three candidates and present them for a vote to all of the family court judges.
Jones said that should Willardson make it to his committee, he sees no reason to recuse himself from the selection process.
He said the nature of their relationship has changed and he does not believe there's a conflict.
Willardson could not be reached for comment.
Court administration said it will evaluate any conflicts on a case by case basis.
