The Local Lens – Incline Justice Court
April 1, 2022 | Linda Offerdahl
If you don’t recognize Judge Alan Tiras on the cover of LIVE.WORK.PLAY., it might be a good thing. That is, you haven’t met him in the Incline Justice Court on a professional basis. However, you might know him from Raleys, your neighborhood, or from Incline High School. He has been a coach for the We The People Constitutional Debate Team ever since his own kids were in the program. The feature article in LIVE.WORK.PLAY. is on Judge Tiras and the Incline Justice Court. Read it online here.
Incline Justice Court was started in 1980. Jim Mancuso was its first judge. He and his wife Stephanie raised their family in Incline Village and still live here today. Alan Tiras, pictured on the cover of LIVE.WORK.PLAY., took over in 2007. Alan and his wife Natalie are an integral part of our community, also raising their family here.
The court is the reason for the creation of the Incline Village-Crystal Bay Township, under the governance of Washoe County. It is a symbol of our desire to have some autonomy and provide direct services to our residents. These include handling traffic violations, evictions, and temporary protection orders. A local judge like Alan Tiras, who is familiar with our community, is in a far better position to interact and affect positive outcomes, particularly for youth.
The status of the Incline Justice Court is being threatened by the recent loss of its Constable position and the movement of the court from the Centerpointe building on Tahoe Blvd to the old library building at 855 Alder. During the last two years of the pandemic, Alan Tiras was a leader in providing court services via zoom to maintain continuity of service. Those efforts are just one of the forces that lead to consolidating courts in Washoe County.
Our unincorporated township is governed by Washoe County, often painted as an absentee owner primarily interested in the tax revenues we generate. We get those tax dollars back in the form of our schools (Washoe County School District), law enforcement (Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Incline Substation), fire protection (NLTFPD), the Incline Library, and the Incline Justice Court. Financial support also goes to IVGID, the general improvement district that provides water, sewer, and recreation. Although Washoe County provides numerous other services, they are harder to identify (and receive) because they are housed in Reno. The Washoe County Health District was very visible the last two years as it (very capably) addressed the COVID pandemic.
IVCBA is working hard to make the work Washoe County does on our behalf more visible. We want to make it easier for them to engage with our community. On April 13, IVCBA and Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation are sponsoring a Washoe Tahoe Community Collaborative Summit. It is bringing local service providers together with Washoe County and our agencies to explore the complex problems facing our community that “take a whole Village and a County” to address.
MORE NEWS: The Washoe Tahoe Housing Partnership is reconvening on April 7 to begin the next phase of addressing the Workforce Housing issue. Anyone interested should contact Linda@IVCBA.org.
About the Author Linda Offerdahl
Linda Offerdahl, IVCBA’s Executive Director, is a 34-year resident of Incline Village. After careers in education and computer product management, she and her husband Richard moved to Incline Village to raise a family and support the community and its endless recreational and business assets.