On the first day of May each year, the legal community celebrates Law Day. The day originated in 1957 when the American Bar Association envisioned a special day celebrating the US legal system. President Dwight Eisenhower established Law Day with a presidential proclamation in 1958. This year we...

South Dakota and Nebraska partnered to form a Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiatives (JDAI) regional conference to highlight important issues such as race equity, school-justice partnership, rural detention reforms, and diversion expansion. The conference was held on April 7 and 8, 2021, in...

The Office of Public Guardian recently participated in a virtual Community of Practice through the Nebraska Center on Reflective Practice. The OPG and its staff continues to greatly benefit from participating in Reflective Practice. The virtual Community of Practice included open discussion on the...

Interpreter and translation services and credentialing for the Nebraska Judicial Branch are outlined in an article written by Director of Language Access Jennifer Verhein in the Access to Justice themed issue of the Nebraska Lawyer Magazine (March/April 2021). It is reprinted with the permission of...

Boone and Nance Counties are the latest counties to contract for the clerk magistrate to serve as ex officio clerk of district court. Lisa Langan took on ex Officio Clerk of District Court duties in Boone County on April 1, 2021. Langan has served as Clerk Magistrate since 2001 and has been part of...

An overview of Nebraska’s Access to Justice Commission, co-chaired by Justice Stephanie Stacy and Nebraska State Bar Association Director Liz Neeley, appears in the Access to Justice themed issue of The Nebraska Lawyer magazine (March/April 2021). It is reprinted with the permission of the Nebraska...

Myndee Hagan, who has under two years of service as Clerk Magistrate in Dawson and Gosper Counties, has become a master at efficient jury trials despite the impediment of social distancing. Working with a visiting judge, she recently maintained a safe, smooth voir dire across two county courtrooms...

The Lancaster County Veterans Treatment Court in Lincoln honored graduate Chad “Kale” Street on March 30, 2021. Family, friends, local community members, local veterans, and other participants observed via Zoom and in person. The ceremony marks the completion of an intensive program of comprehensive...

The 2021 renewal of Nebraska court media credentials includes a multiple-choice review of new and sometimes confusing/problematic rules. The Supreme Court recently updated the media rules for cameras in the courtroom, requiring court media credentials to be renewed every two years. Taking the...

One positive outcome of the need for alternative operations in courthouses during COVID-19 has been a marked increase in the number of cases filed electronically by county and city attorneys. Criminal case filings have long been surpassed in the eFiling system by civil case filings, but this has...