Modified Court Operations are court operations for both District and County Courts during any time the Courts determine Modified Court Operations are necessary to preserve the health or protect the safety of any person. Modified Court Operations shall be governed by the following rules:

  1. IMPLEMENTATION. Modified Court Operations shall go into effect upon the promulgation of a Directed Health Measure,¹ mandates by Federal, State, or Local Government, or upon the majority vote of the current District and County Judges of the 11th Judicial District whenever it is deemed necessary for the health, protection, and safety of any persons. Modified Court Operations shall cease and normal court operations shall resume upon the majority vote of the current District and County Judges of the 11th Judicial District.

  2. STAKEHOLDERS. Stakeholders identified to be involved in the implementation and planning of Modified Court Operations may include the following: County Board, Local Law Enforcement, County Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, Eleventh Judicial Bar Association, Local Public Health Department, Probation, County and District Clerks, Clerk Magistrates, Emergency Management, District and County Court Staff.

  3. POINT PERSON. The Presiding District Court Judge and Presiding County Court Judge shall be responsible for coordinating and facilitating all communication regarding implementation of the Modified Court Operations with the Stakeholders and providing Notices.

  4. NOTICES. Notice of change of such operations shall be made available to the public by posting at each Courthouse, email to local bar association, available media outlets, web sites, State social media outlets, and other means determined by the Presiding Judges as most likely to reach the general public and court users. Any order issued to implement or enforce the Modified Court Operations shall be filed in the offices of the county and district courts affected by the modified operations and shall be entered on the journal of the courts.

  5. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS. During all times of Modified Court Operations, the Court shall modify operating procedures to address safety concerns of persons who work in or utilize the Courts while ensuring that all essential functions of the Court continue. Essential Functions include, but are not limited to: custodial criminal proceedings, protection orders, receipt of mail and filings, criminal warrants (excluding time payment warrants), juvenile custodial cases, receipt of financial payments, processing of appeals, habeas corpus proceedings, extradition proceedings, ex-parte custody orders and emergency placement orders, landlord/tenant cases, probate and adoption cases, probable cause affidavits, civil and criminal jury trials, search warrants, injunctions, mental health board proceedings, competency hearings.

  6. During periods of Modified Court Operations, only hearings the judge deems to be emergency in nature shall be conducted in person. All other cases shall be continued or heard remotely.

  ¹ A directed health measure is any measure, promulgated by any public health district or the Department of Health and Human Services, whether prophylactic or remedial, intended and directed to prevent or limit the spread of communicable disease or prevent or limit public exposure to or spread of biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear agents.

Approved March 22, 2023.

   These remote hearing rules apply to both the District and County Courts. Remote hearings shall be governed by the following rules:

  A. Use of Remote Hearings in the Eleventh Judicial District shall be available as described in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 24-734.

  1. The Judge, in his or her discretion, may order any case under § 24-734, not involving oral testimony, to be conducted by telephone, videoconferencing, or other similar method. § 24-734(3).

  2. The Judge may permit a witness to be examined by oral testimony to appear by telephone, videoconferencing, or other similar method in a criminal case with the consent of the parties. § 24-734(4).

  3. The Judge, for good cause shown, shall permit any witness to be examined by oral examination to appear by telephone, videoconferencing, or similar method, unless there is an objection sustained after considering the factors set forth in § 24-734(5).

  4. Costs for such remote hearings, if any, shall be assessed as set forth in § 24-734.

  B. Rules for Video/Phone Hearings:

  1. SCHEDULING: The remote hearing must be scheduled, set up, and initiated by the moving party as coordinated with the Court at least 5 days in advance of the hearing, excluding emergency hearings.

  2. EXHIBITS: All exhibits to be offered at remote hearings must be provided to the Court and all other parties at least five (5) days in advance of the hearing. Any electronic evidence must be offered in a form that can be viewed by the Court AND preserved with the Court for purposes of appeal. You should check with Court staff to verify that your electronic evidence is on a form that can be viewed and preserved in advance of your hearing.

  3. ATTIRE: The same attire required for attorneys in the courtrooms shall be required for remote hearings. Non-attorneys shall be attired in appropriate clothing, Clothing with profane or inappropriate language, symbols or graphics, or the lack of proper clothing will result in your removal and loss of the privilege to appear remotely.

  4. BACKGROUNDS: All participants shall be located in a quiet indoor area with an appropriate background environment. No virtual backgrounds shall be allowed.

  5. CONDUCT: All participants shall conduct themselves in a quiet and orderly manner. No person shall smoke, eat, drink, watch television, listen to music, use cell phones or other electronics, or engage in distracting or inappropriate conduct while in a video/telephonic conference.

  6. BE ON TIME/PREPARED: All attorneys and litigants shall be present and prepared to proceed at the time scheduled by the Court and shall be immediately in front of their video/telephonic device to allow others in the hearing to see/hear them clearly.

  7. NAME: Name yourself with your legal name on any sign in information.

  8. BE PATIENT: Participants may be placed in a waiting room prior to joining the hearing. The host will admit participants as soon as possible from the waiting room.

  9. BE STATIONARY: All participants shall be seated during the hearing. If you need to move to an area with better reception, do so prior to the hearing. It is not acceptable to be walking, moving, driving, or riding in a vehicle during a video/telephonic hearing.

  10. MUTE YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY: Upon entering the virtual courtroom, immediately mute yourself by clicking the microphone button (a diagonal line through a microphone icon should appear to show that you have been muted).

  11. DO NOT SPEAK UNTIL CALLED UPON: The judge will let you know when you may unmute your microphone and speak. You may also use the chat feature to communicate with the host or judge about an issue with the hearing (example--“I have trouble getting my audio to work”).

  12. CAMERAS TO REMAIN ON: Cameras are to remain on for all parties during video hearings.

  13. CONNECTION ISSUES: If an attorney or litigant has an issue (for example, they cannot hear what is being said), they should immediately bring the matter to the Judge’s attention. Members of the public participating in the hearing may not request or obtain assistance from any individual participating in the hearing.

  14. PUBLIC ACCESS. The public shall have access to all remote hearings either by live video feed in the courtroom or by requesting a link to the remote hearing. Non-parties wishing to access any video/telephonic hearing remotely may do so by written request with the Court on the attached form and compliance with these rules.

  C. IT IS ORDERED THAT RECORDING OF REMOTE HEARINGS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. All participants (with the exception of credentialed media subject to media rules) are prohibited from recording, capturing, saving, broadcasting, televising, or photographing the proceeding in any manner. FAILURE TO ABIDE BY THIS ORDER MAY RESULT IN CONTEMPT OF COURT PROCEEDINGS.

Approved February 8, 2023.

I. PURPOSE.  This rule is to establish a process for the appointment of private attorneys to represent indigent defendants as provided in Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-3901 to 29-3908.

II. APPLICABILITY.  This rule shall not apply to criminal proceedings in which the court appoints the Public Defender or the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy.

III. GENERAL

   A. Appointments of private attorneys shall be made on an impartial and equitable basis;

   B. The appointments shall be distributed among the attorneys on a rotation system;

   C. Cases shall be assigned to attorneys of sufficient experience, skill, and competence to render effective assistance of counsel to defendants;

   D. Complex cases shall be assigned to attorneys with sufficient levels of experience and competence to provide adequate representation; and

   E. Less experienced attorneys shall be assigned cases which are within their capabilities, but should be given the opportunity to expand their experience under supervision.

IV. COURT-APPOINTED ATTORNEY LIST

   A. Each County Court shall maintain a court-appointed attorney list (which shall consist of three categories: misdemeanors; Class III, IIIA, and IV felonies; and Class I and II felonies from which attorneys shall be appointed to represent indigent defendants in that county. The list shall include the name, address, phone number, email, and Nebraska bar number for each attorney who will accept appointments to criminal cases in that county.

   B. Attorneys shall contact the County Court of each county in which they wish to be considered for court appointments and request to be placed on the court-appointed list. Attorneys shall also contact the County Court when they no longer wish to receive court appointments. Appendix 1, which is attached, shall be utilized when requesting to be placed on the court-appointed attorney list.

   C. The County Court shall make the court-appointed list of attorneys available upon request.

V. METHOD OF SELECTION FROM COURT-APPOINTED LISTS

   A. The Court will generally attempt to appoint attorneys from the court-appointed attorney list on a rotational basis, subject to the court's sole discretion to make exceptions due to:

   1. the nature and complexity of the case;

   2. an attorney’s experience;

   3. the nature and disposition of the defendant;

   4. a language consideration;

   5. a conflict of interest;

   6. the availability of an attorney, taking into consideration an immediate need to address issues involved in the case; ^[1]

   7. geographical considerations; ^[2] and

   8. other relevant factors.

   B. If the court in its sole discretion varies from the rotation basis, it may appoint any qualified attorney, whether or not the attorney is on the court-appointed attorney list.

VI. REMOVAL AND REINSTATEMENT FROM APPOINTMENT LISTS

   A. Judges will monitor attorney performance on a continuing basis to ensure the competency of attorneys on the lists. An attorney may be removed from the appointment lists by a majority vote of county and district court judges.

   B. If an attorney is under consideration for removal from the lists, a written notification will be given to the attorney, indicating the concerns with the performance giving rise to consideration for removal, and the attorney will be given the opportunity to respond in writing or in person before a final decision is made.

   C. An attorney who has been removed from the lists may be considered for reinstatement by a majority vote of the judges, after the deficiencies contained in the notice have been resolved.

Rule 11-15 approved January 14, 2015.