Transfer of county court judgeship advances

Senators advanced a bill from general file Feb. 9 that would transfer a county court judgeship to another district.

LB790, introduced by Lincoln Sen. Colby Coash, would transfer a judgeship in the 5TH Judicial District County Court—serving Boone, Butler, Colfax, Hamilton, Merrick, Nance, Platte, Polk, Saunders, Seward and York Counties—to the 3RD Judicial District County Court—located in Lancaster County.

Lancaster County judges’ caseloads have increased 60 percent since 1985, while the other counties have seen a decrease, Coash said. To address the issue, he said, a Seward County judge has been traveling to Lancaster County three times per week to assist with caseloads.

Due to this shift in needs, Coash said, the Nebraska Judicial Resources Commission has determined that a 5TH Judicial District judgeship should transfer to the 3RD Judicial District.

O’Neill Sen. Tyson Larson spoke in opposition to the bill. Rural citizens often have to travel long distances to appear in court, Larson said, so rural populations need better access to judges.

“I think this is another example of the weakening of the rural court system,” Larson said.

Valentine Sen. Deb Fischer also spoke in opposition to the bill, saying that citizens deserve to have reasonable access to their state government.

“Rural Nebraska is not depopulated yet,” Fischer said. “We are seeing an increase in young people in rural communities across the state, but if we continue down the road of eliminating services [in rural areas] then we are going to have trouble.”

Norfolk Sen. Mike Flood supported the switch, calling it an acceptable remedy that would not hurt rural Nebraska. The commission has a duty to ensure that citizens have access to judgeships, Flood said, and six judges in the 5TH Judicial District have proven to be too many.

“If we start becoming territorial and parochial [in the Legislature] then we are not doing a good job allocating [the state’s] resources,” Flood said.

Senators advanced the bill from general file on a 27-11 vote.