County Court Judge Richard Smith opened the first stop of the Chief Justice’s Summer Tour in front of a packed courtroom on Monday, August 12, 2024, in Falls City. Kicking off the tour, Judge Smith welcomed attendees and introduced Chief Justice Heavican. The Chief Justice thanked Judicial Branch...

The premiere of an inspiring new foster parenting video took center stage at the Seward judicial center during the last stop on day 3 of the Chief Justice’s Summer Tour on August 14. Judges Lynelle Homolka and C. Jo Petersen introduced "Fostering Care: How You Can Help," a moving video designed to...

Sandra Day O’Connor award presented by Chief Justice Heavican to Nebraska State Bar Foundation Executive Director Doris Huffman at Conference of Chief Justices and State Court Administrators The Nebraska State Bar Foundation was recently honored with the prestigious Sandra Day O'Connor Award for the...

On August 12, 2024, the Sarpy County Reentry Court celebrated its latest graduation ceremony at the Sarpy County Courthouse in Papillion, with Judge Stefanie Martinez presiding over the event. For Emilee, the latest Reentry Court graduate, this ceremony signifies the successful completion of a...

Chief Justice Mike Heavican is retiring October 31, 2024, after 18 years of service on the bench. The first step in replacing Chief Justice Heavican will be for the Judicial Nominating Commission to announce the application deadline for the position. Read: Retirement Letter from Chief Justice to...

Click HERE to see and hear a short 8-minute recorded presentation on key updates and innovations in the Language Access Program that will positively affect courtrooms. The brief video covers subjects including last minute interpreting needs, updated Interpreter Rules, and optimizing interpreters for...

Congratulations to Mandarin interpreter Yunzhe “Leslie” Shi for achieving Registered status. Registered interpreters are those that have attended Nebraska Judicial Branch Orientation, passed the written exam, and scored 50% or higher on each segment of the oral exam. This is a significant...

The Sarpy County Juvenile Drug Court celebrated a graduation at the Sarpy County Courthouse in Papillion on August 13, 2024. Judge Jonathan Crosby presided over the ceremony. Graduation marks the completion of an intensive program of comprehensive drug treatment, intensive community supervision, and...

Several protection orders were filed in Platte County District Court involving the same family, which speaks multiple languages. One family member needed ASL (American Sign Language) interpreters, and the others needed Spanish interpreters. There were five cases that took more than a day to finish...

Probation’s Above and Beyond Award has been presented to Danielle Graybill, Office Manager, from District 5 during the Probation Management Meeting in April 2024. Probation Above and Beyond award recipients consistently embody probation’s vision and mission with exceptional leadership qualities...