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...

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...

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...

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 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...

Morgan Farrell has all the qualities of an ideal supervisor. She makes sound decisions in stressful situations and possesses leadership qualities that are respected by both probationers and officers. Morgan’s open-door policy creates an environment where officers and staff feel comfortable talking...

Stepping up is not unusual in the Office of Public Guardian, but Administrative Case Aides, Sarah Herrera, and Shelly Ging went far beyond expectations. Sarah took on the full-time role of Financial Operations Manager; overseeing the ward’s finances, budgets, payments, and receipts ensuring the OPG...

With over 100 Creighton Law students in a Zoom waiting room, Law School Professor Carol Knoepfler, a former Supreme Court Law Clerk, quickly organized the Nebraska Supreme Court’s justices into an online panel. The Zoom question and answer session with Creighton law students substituted for their...