Judge of the Separate Juvenile Court, Robert O’Neal, is retiring effective May 31, 2022. O’Neal served as Juvenile Court judge in Papillion since 1996. He also served as the Judge of the Sarpy County Family Drug Court since 2015, Judge of Otoe County juvenile matters since 2009, and Judge of the Sarpy County Juvenile Drug Court since 2006.  

In his announcement letter to the Governor, O’Neal noted, “It has been my great honor and privilege to serve the children and families of Sarpy and Otoe Counties.” He continued, “It has been particularly rewarding to work daily with the many fine State Probation staff, DHHS employees, as well as the Clerk of the Court offices for the two counties. All of them work diligently to benefit the vulnerable and at-risk children in the state.”

In 2018, O’Neal received the Nebraska Supreme Court’s Outstanding Judge Award for Service to the Community for his long-term, ongoing volunteer work with the Nebraska High School Mock Trial program and for his work with the Papillion-LaVista school system.

O’Neal has served on numerous judicial committees including being a member on the Judicial Resources Commission, lead judge for Sarpy and Otoe Counties as part of the Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative, President of Nebraska Separate Juvenile Judges Association, and member on the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative State Coordinator Committee and the Juvenile Interstate Compact State Council.

Judge O’Neal was core to the success of Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) and Interstate Compact for Juveniles. He has been the judicial lead for JDAI for the 2^nd Judicial District since 2012.  His leadership has supported the implementation and significant reduction in detention in the first rural county where JDAI was implemented.

Judge O’Neal has been an active participant on the Interstate Compact for Juveniles State Council since 2010 where he has been able to advise on juvenile priority areas that directly impact the rules of the interstate compact.  

After taking the bench in 1996, O’Neal has been regularly retained in his judicial position by area voters, most recently in 2018.

The first step in replacing O’Neal will be for the Judicial Resources Commission to call a meeting to determine whether, based on judicial workload statistics, his retirement creates a judicial vacancy on the district court for the 2^nd Judicial District.

News Reporters:

Judge O’Neal’s judicial biography may be found at: https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/hon-robert-b-oneal

Replacing a Judge in the Nebraska Trial Court System: https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/media/reference

Resources Commission information: https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/judicial-resources-commission/e-manual

Judicial Nominating Commission information: https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/attorneys/judicial-vacancy