Melanie A. Andress-Tobiasson

Melanie A. Andress-Tobiasson, a Las Vegas native, became licensed to practice law in Nevada in 1993 after earning her law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California, and completing her undergraduate studies at Southern Methodist University. She was a graduate of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. During and after law school she interned with the Office of the Nevada Attorney General, and she began her legal career as a deputy prosecutor with the Clark County District Attorney's office.

After years in the District Attorney's office, she moved into part-time judicial service as a justice of the peace pro tempore beginning around 1999-2000, balancing her work on the bench with raising her family. In 2009 she was appointed a Las Vegas Justice of the Peace, a position she held through re-election until her resignation in 2021. Colleagues remembered her exemplary work ethic, formidable presence, and razor-sharp wit.

Beyond the courtroom, she volunteered with the Trauma Intervention Program, offering counsel and comfort to survivors grieving the loss of loved ones. She was 55 years old at the time of her death.