'Lady Trump' Appointed to Oversee Court Cases Hopes to Become a Lawyer

A Nevada Republican who has been described as "Lady Trump" has been appointed to serve as a justice of the peace in the state, a role that will allow her to oversee certain court cases even though she lacks a law degree.

Michele Fiore, a former Las Vegas city councilwoman who made an unsuccessful bid to become Nevada's state treasurer this year, was unanimously chosen by Nye County commissioners to fill the seat left vacant by Justice of the Peace Kent Jasperson, who died in August. She will serve in Nye County's Pahrump Justice Court—the driving distance between Pahrump and Las Vegas is about 64 miles—through 2024.

Though she does not have a law degree, Fiore said she intends to become a licensed attorney, The Nevada Independent, a news and opinion website, reported.

"I'm excited about the learning curve. I'm not going to sit here and tell you I know everything. I will tell you that I don't know what I don't know," she told commissioners, according to the Independent. "Becoming a justice of the peace, I know, will be very exciting. And I will go to whatever lengths I have to to make sure that I have all of the knowledge."

In Nevada, justices of the peace are not always required to be licensed attorneys. A law degree is not mandated to serve as a justice of the peace in smaller counties in the state, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Though rules and conditions may differ, other states have similar policies.

Fiore has been at the center of several controversial or attention-grabbing incidents in recent years. A vocal proponent of gun rights and former President Donald Trump, she released a Nevada gubernatorial campaign ad last year in which she is seen stepping out of a pickup truck adorned with a Trump 2024 bumper sticker in the middle of a desert.

"I've spent my whole life fighting the establishment," Fiore said in the ad. She describes her "three-shot plan" for the state if elected, pulling a pistol from her hip and firing at three beer bottles labeled "vaccine mandates," "critical race theory" and "voter fraud."

Fiore has said that she doesn't mind people bringing guns into courtrooms because "an armed society is a polite society," according to the Independent.

Earlier this year, Fiore was sued by Victoria Seaman, a former colleague on the Las Vegas City Council, who alleged that she broke her index finger when they got into a physical fight at City Hall, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

Newsweek reached out to Fiore for comment.