Nebraska
Rural NE county attorneys, public defenders confront 'legal desert' in hiring new lawyers • Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Three decades ago, Hall County Public Defender Gerald Piccolo could get more than 100 applicants for a job opening just by posting a notice on the bulletin boards at Nebraska’s two law colleges and sharing a notice with the state bar association.
Now, he said, he’s lucky to get a handful of aspiring defense attorneys to apply.
“I haven’t ever received more than 10 applicants for a job in the past 10 years,” Piccolo said.
It’s part of a national trend of fewer law graduates due to decreased enrollment in law schools, which have seen a 21% drop in students since peaking in 2010.
The shortage of potential new prosecutors and public defenders is presenting an even bigger problem in Nebraska’s smaller cities and rural areas, where it’s difficult to convince some college graduates to relocate.
Bill derailed
At Piccolo’s central Nebraska office, for instance, four of his eight lawyer positions were unfilled in 2022 and 2023, and two remain open today.
“It’s just more attractive to live in Lincoln or Omaha than live in Grand Island, Madison County or Scottsbluff,” he said. “It’s easier to stay in Omaha or Lincoln because that’s where the law schools are.”
A bill to address the workforce shortage, however, got derailed in the Nebraska Legislature toward the end of the 2024 session due to a disagreement between the state’s prosecutors and defense attorneys over the incentives that should be offered.
State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, who is a lawyer, had introduced legislation to expand financial incentives offered to “public service” attorneys — like county prosecutors and public defenders — who located in rural areas through the state’s long-running Legal Education for Public Service and Rural Practice Loan Repayment Assistance Program.
That program provides student loan repayment assistance to counties with less than 15,000 residents in an effort to address “legal deserts” in the state.
12 of 93 counties without lawyers
Twelve of the state’s 93 counties currently have no active lawyers, and 18 have three or fewer attorneys, according to the Nebraska State Bar Association.
That shortage is projected to expand to 16 counties with no lawyers, and 32 with three or fewer by 2027, due to retirement of lawyers in rural areas.
“We hear from attorneys in rural Nebraska that they’d like to retire (but) their clients won’t let them.”
– Liz Neeley, executive director, Nebraska Bar Association
“We hear from attorneys in rural Nebraska that they’d like to retire (but) their clients won’t let them,” Liz Neeley, the executive director of the Nebraska State Bar Association told a legislative committee this spring.
That’s because there’s a lack of replacements for them, Neeley said. Some public defender/county attorney jobs have been vacant for six months in rural counties without a single applicant, she said, and a few jobs have been vacant for more than a year.
Under Sen. Conrad’s proposed Legislative Bill 1195, the loan repayment program would be expanded to larger counties, such as Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings and Scottsbluff.
Killed by salary parity
Funding for expanding the program, about $500,000, was projected to come from the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, which has amassed a reserve fund of millions of dollars via legal settlements it obtains from class-action lawsuits.
But LB 1195, as originally proposed, failed to pass. The issue that killed it was salary parity — whether deputy county attorneys should be paid the same salary as deputy public defenders.
“It was really disappointing,” Conrad said. “We were all rowing in the same direction, and then we got tripped up on this parity issue.”
Representatives of the state’s county attorneys argued that the jobs are different, and shouldn’t get the same pay, and that local counties — not the state — should decide what they pay their employees. The parity issue arose during later crafting of the bill, and ended the county attorneys’ support for it.
Nebraska and Texas are back.
The two college volleyball powers will meet on the volleyball court this fall, according to Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly. While she teased the matchup, she didn’t reveal other details, such as when and where the match will be played during a luncheon sponsored by the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday afternoon.
The only hint Busboom Kelly gave about the location is it won’t be at the Huskers’ home venue.
“We’re bringing back the rivalry with Texas, so that’s going to be fun,” Busboom Kelly said. “It won’t be in Nebraska, so I hope to see some traveling.”
The Longhorns and NU last played in the national championship match in 2023, which UT won in straight sets. The Huskers lead the all-time series 33-25, but Texas owns a 7-3 advantage since NU left the Big 12 Conference in 2010.
Texas finished 26-4 last season and suffered a loss in the regional final on its home court to Wisconsin. The Longhorns return most of their starting lineup and just have to replace three-year starter libero Emma Halter and middle blocker Ayden Ames, who transferred to Creighton.
“They have almost everybody back, they’re going to be really good and really powerful,” Busboom Kelly said. It’ll be a really great test for us early to see where we’re at, and then win or lose, they’re going to teach us what we need to get better at going throughout the rest of the season.”
The match is yet another high-profile non-conference match for the Huskers in the non-conference. Nebraska is playing Missouri at Wrigley Field on Sept. 6, two days after it takes on DePaul in the first-ever volleyball match at WinTrust Arena. In addition, South Dakota State announced that it will be hosting the Huskers on Wednesday, September 2, at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings, S.D.
Busboom Kelly also teased another potential marquee match that featured an “exciting, unique field type experience,” but held off while the contract details are still being finalized for that event.
Swing Away
One of Busboom Kelly’s objectives this spring was to have the Huskers swing harder on attacks and serve tougher. After the match against Iowa State on Saturday, the early returns have been encouraging.
She said hitting harder is a combination of confidence, strength and technique. It’s also a little contagious.
“When a couple players raise their level, everybody else is like, ‘Well, I gotta raise mine,’” she said. “You get one or two players start hitting the ball harder, everybody else kind of follows suit. It’s tough to get a kill in our gym right now.”
As a team, Nebraska finished with a kill percentage of 48.6 for the match, which is a slight tick up from its rate of 47.7 percent for the 2025 season.
Busboom Kelly singled out sophomore outside hitter Teraya Sigler as someone who has made a step forward with their attack. She recorded eight kills on 14 attacks with zero attack errors.
“She came in hitting hard, and then she got a little banged up towards the end of the year, so we kind of forgot the pop that she had,” Busboom Kelly said. “It’s great to see her healthy and strong, and she really took advantage of the offseason. So she’s definitely hitting it harder.”
The Huskers also served tougher against the Cyclones. NU recorded four aces in the match, including line drives from Bergen Reilly and Andi Jackson.
Creighton next up on Friday
The Huskers will play their second spring exhibition when they take on Creighton Friday night at DJ Sokol Arena. CU announced on Wednesday that the 3,000-seat arena is officially sold out.
The Bluejays were hit hard by graduation as they lost All-Americans at setter, middle blocker and outside hitter (Annalea Maeder, Kiara Reinhardt and Ava Martin). As a result, CU hit the transfer portal where it picked up setter Katie Dalton from Kansas, Ayden Ames from Texas and outside hitter Trinity Shadd-Ceres from Wisconsin.
For the Huskers, Busboom Kelly would like to see more offense from the middle blockers. The Huskers force-fed the ball to Andi Jackson and Rebekah Allick at times last season and Bergen Reilly could have gone to her middle more often in the first exhibition. The four middle blockers (Jackson, Manaia Ogbechie, Kenna Cogill and Keoni Williams) combined for 13 kills on 32 attacks in the first exhibition.
In addition, she wants better production out of its front-row defense. NU recorded 11 blocks against Iowa State, but left some room for improvement.
“We had a lot of great touches, and we were in the right spot. Now it’s translating that into points,” she said.
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Over the 2026 offseason, the Oregon Ducks welcomed quarterback Dylan Raiola as he departed the Nebraska Cornhuskers via the NCAA Transfer Portal; a controversial choice as the Ducks’ 2025 season starter, Dante Moore, announced he’d return for another year at Oregon shortly after Raiola’s commitment.
Playing for the Cornhuskers for two seasons, Raiola consistently made headlines for comparisons to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, having a 69.1 percent passing game accuracy with a 13-9 record for his starts, and a broken right fibula ending his 2025 season prematurely.
Dylan Raiola Shares Regrets From Nebraska Tenure
On Tuesday, in his first media appearance as an Oregon Duck, Raiola got real about his time with Nebraska. After confirming he’s cleared from his previous injury and elaborating on his excitement to learn from Moore, Raiola admitted a few regrets from his previous home base of Lincoln, Nebraska.
“I’m very grateful for the time I had in Nebraska. I’m very grateful for the coaches, the people, and the fans, and everyone I came across, too. But like you said, you can’t emulate game-speed reps. And I think there’s a lot of instances of things that I could have did better to kind of have propel our team to win,” Raiola said.
Dylan Raiola Is Using His Nebraska Experiences as a Lesson Learned
Though the sophomore quarterback did give a mixed bag of experiences from his previous program, he also made sure to emphasize the value of those experiences and how they contribute to his current team.
“But, use all those experiences for learning and propel not only myself, but this team forward. And however I can present ideas to help Dante, or whoever in the room. I’m gonna do my best to be the best teammate that I can be,” Raiola added.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning confirmed that Raiola’s mentality when joining the Ducks lay solely in developing and helping a team while moving away from the headlines that plagued him with the Cornhuskers. According to Lanning, Raiola was willing to join the Ducks regardless of Moore’s decision, as he was searching for a new chapter.
“And obviously, he wanted to be here before he knew if Dante was gonna be back or not, just knowing that if that was an option, that was gonna be an opportunity for him to be able to grow and accelerate. It’s more about where he was going,” Lanning said. “Now, ‘Hey, am I gonna be the guy that’s up there first guy going, or am I gonna be a guy that’s gonna have an opportunity to develop and learn?’ I think all those things were really appealing to him and his family.”
What Dylan Raiola Brings to the Table
While with the Cornhuskers, Raiola put in a total of 4,819 passing yards (2,000 yards or more both seasons), -152 rushing yards off 96 carries, 31 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions over two seasons.
For Raiola, starting fresh might be a great idea to depart from his past, with the Ducks gaining a particularly sweet upside in another developed quarterback prepared to back up and potentially ready to start the next season.
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Nebraska baseball (28-9) secured the 2026 I-80 showdown series over in-state rival Creighton (18-16) with its 5-4 victory on Tuesday in front of 6,148 fans to mark its first win in Lincoln since 2017.
On a warm, windy night that helped propel the baseball, the Huskers tossed five different arms, including usual Friday starter Ty Horn (4.37 ERA) in middle relief. Horn delivered three shutout frames, while closer J’Shawn Unger (SV: 8) recorded the final six outs.
Head coach Will Bolt confirmed postgame that Horn will move to the bullpen going forward.
“That’s the plan. He’s going to pitch out of the bullpen,” Bolt said. “I just think he’s eager to take the ball multiple times a week, and we’re looking for another arm that’s going to be able to do that.”
Bolt added, “He wasn’t falling behind counts and chasing, and some of those things. He was fired up to take the ball tonight, and that was the difference in the game for us.”
Trailing 4-0 after just two frames, the Big Red scored five unanswered runs with two in the second and three in the third. However, the offense went ice cold from there.
True freshman Drew Grego led the way, going 2-for-4 for three RBI, highlighted by his two-run homer in the bottom of the second.
Here is an instant recap from Game 2 of the I-80 series…
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Timmerman, Clark stabilize Bender’s blowup
Starter Pryce Bender (6.27 ERA) struggled with the 20+ mph wind gusts out of the west and with it 80 degrees at first pitch.
The sophomore righty allowed three runs in the first inning alone, including a two-run homer by CU’s Nate McHugh after allowing four hits in just one inning of work.
In the second, Nebraska pitching coach Rob Childress turned to Tucker Timmerman for a fresh slate on the mound. However, the Bluejays penciled in another with the wind support off Nick Venteicher’s solo-shot to left field to lead 4-0.
In the third, Timmerman worked a scoreless frame that was nearly 1-2-3 after Mac Moyer’s head-first dive in center field. Despite the initial fair ruling, the call was overturned after review. Still, Timmerman forced a groundout to strand the runner in scoring position.
The Beatrice native posted those two innings off 36 pitches (24 strikes) to retire six of the nine Bluejays faced. Lefty Caleb Clark took the fourth and dominated a 1-2-3 frame with two strikeouts.
Bottom of the order carries NU
Entering the bottom of the second with a four-run deficit, Drew Grego blasted a 97 mph two-run homer for NU’s first hit of the game and cut the deficit in half. It marked the right fielder’s fifth dinger of his true freshman campaign.
After drawing another two walks in the third, Grego came back up to the plate with two down. And the rookie from Papillion drove in Nebraska’s third run to make it 4-3.
Moments later, third baseman Joshua Overbeek evened it up with his RBI single to right. Second baseman Rhett Stokes then handed the Big Red a 5-4 lead with his RBI single — all three hits came with two outs.
While the hitting was clutch, the Huskers left nine baserunners on base through five innings. It’s also noteworthy that NU’s top of the order, which consists of Moyer, Jeter Worthley, Case Sanderson and Dylan Carey, were 0-for-11 after six frames.
“We had to grind through it offensively. Not a great night,” Bolt said. “But we had a freshman spark us and play incredibly well in Grego, who had a really tough week last week. Awesome to see a kid like that respond in the way that he did for his team.”
Nebraska Spring Lookback: Defensive edge
Horn comes in and deals
Horn, who had been NU’s ace to date, took the ball in the fifth to mark his first relief appearance of the season. The junior righty retired nine of the 11 Bluejays faced off 33 pitches (24 strikes) in three frames, including 1-2-3 sixth and seventh innings.
“It’s a lot more jittery and blood is flowing after when you come out of the pen,” Horn said.
In his last two starts, he surrendered nine runs in just seven innings. The Big Red arm who dons No. 2 came to the mound with extra juice after his recent struggles.
“You’ve seen the last couple of outings. It has not gone the way I wanted to,” he said. “Just having in my mind like ‘I just go out there and eff people up’ if that makes sense.”
Unger, the closer, entered in the eighth. After yielding a lead-off single, the righty from Blair, Nebraska, forced a 6-4-3 double play and cruised through the final four outs to seal the win.
Nebraska returns to the ball diamond on Friday at 6 CT for its most pivotal series of the season against No. 12 USC. Watch on the B1G+ or listen on the Huskers Radio Network.
The Huskers will meet the Bluejays for the series finale on Tuesday, May 12, at 6 CT in Omaha. Watch on Nebraska Public Media.
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