The Nebraska Supreme Court announces the appointment of Mr. Gene Cotter as Nebraska’s new State Probation Administrator. Cotter, the seventh administrator in sixty-six years, will direct the statewide delivery of all juvenile and adult probation services in Nebraska. The appointment is effective February 1, 2025.

Cotter has worked in Nebraska Probation for 34 years, most recently as the Deputy Administrator for Operations, where he was responsible for statewide communications, interstate compact, personnel, probation performance management, and research and data.

He began his career as a probation officer, serving the 12th Judicial District in Nebraska’s panhandle. He later served 20 counties in southeastern Nebraska as a juvenile and adult intensive supervision officer, before helping Nebraska develop one of its first Reporting Centers and a Specialized Substance Abuse Supervision Program in Lincoln that has since served as a roadmap for the evidence-based programming in which all probation programs are now founded.

Cotter was the Chief Probation Officer of the Lancaster County Adult Probation Office from 2009 to 2014 before moving to the Administrative Office, where he has served as the Interim Chief Information Officer, the Interim Director of Judicial Branch Education, an Assistant Deputy Probation Administrator for Adult Programs and Services, and in his current role for the past eight years

Gene holds a bachelor of science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska and a master’s degree in Critical and Creative Thinking with an emphasis in Organizational Science and Leadership from the University of Nebraska Omaha. He is also the Region 4 Representative on the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) Board of Directors, a graduate of the APPA Leadership Institute and the Executive Leadership Training Program offered through the National Association of Probation Executives.

Statutorily, the Office of Probation Administration provides central management of probation services for the Court, which enhances public safety and rehabilitation for individuals under community supervision. Probation faithfully works to improve the safety of all Nebraskans while assisting juveniles and adults under supervision in becoming productive citizens.