Creation of guardianship office proposed

Nebraskans requiring guardians could turn to the state under a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee Jan. 29.

LB920, introduced by Lincoln Sen. Colby Coash, would create the Public Guardianship Act, which would establish an office that would serve as a means of last resort as guardian or conservator for situations in which no family member or suitable individual is available. The office also would provide education, training and support to current and future guardians and conservators.

The bill would place the Office of Public Guardian under the jurisdiction of the Nebraska State Court Administrator and would establish a director, deputy public guardian and up to 12 associate guardians.

Coash said Nebraska is facing a “critical epidemic” because the number of available guardians is decreasing while the number of people needing guardians continues to grow.

“Due to a rapidly aging population and smaller, geographically-dispersed families, there are often no family members or no interested individuals to serve as guardians for our elderly and mentally ill people with developmental disabilities in our state,” Coash said.

State-approved guardians would be a better option than Nebraska’s current policy, Coash said, in which courts appoint volunteers in cases where no one comes forward to serve as a guardian. The lack of available guardians has forced the courts to sometimes select unqualified conservators, he said.

“This has led to some dishonest volunteers taking on multiple and hundreds of wards and stealing their assets,” he said, referencing a recent state audit report that revealed a single person to be a legal guardian for more than 600 people.

Bruce Cudly of the Association of Community Professionals was one of 14 people who testified in support of the bill. Cudly said Nebraskans with no guardianship options are “terribly at risk and the state needs to do something about it.”

Tom Maul, an attorney from Columbus, also spoke in support of the bill. He called the proposed office a safety net for the most vulnerable people in Nebraska—the elderly and mentally incapacitated in nursing homes who have no guardian options.

Speaking in a neutral capacity, Douglas County Court Judge Susan Bazis called Nebraska’s current system unacceptable.

“We are at the breaking point and the reality is, if we don’t do this now, people are not going to have guardians,” Bazis said.

Nebraska would be the final state to create a guardianship office, Coash added.

The committee took no immediate action on LB920.