County Court Judge C. Jo Petersen to Retire End of September
Judge of the Seward County Court, C. Jo Petersen, is retiring effective September 30, 2025. Petersen served as County Court Judge for the 5th Judicial District (Boone, Butler, Colfax, Hamilton, Merrick, Nance, Platte, Polk, Saunders, Seward, and York counties) in Seward, Nebraska, for over a dozen years.
In her announcement letter to the Governor, Petersen noted, “It has been an honor and privilege to serve the people of the State of Nebraska and the Fifth Judicial District and provide judicial services within a branch of government with judges, lawyers, and staff dedicated to providing access to justice for all throughout the state.”
Petersen served as Nebraska County Judges Association President (2021-2022) after serving in all executive offices. She has also served on the County Court Bench Book and Legislative committees.
Petersen was presented with the Service to the Judiciary Award by then-Chief Justice Mike Heavican in October 2017. The awards recognize members of the judiciary for meritorious projects and exemplary accomplishments beyond their day-to-day duties as a judge.
After taking the bench in 2013, Petersen has been regularly retained in her judicial position by area voters, most recently in 2022.
The first step in replacing Petersen will be for the Judicial Resources Commission to call a meeting to determine whether, based on judicial workload statistics, her retirement creates a judicial vacancy on the county court for the 5th Judicial District.
News Reporters:
Judge Petersen's judicial profile