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 Game and Parks is offering residents a chance to win prizes simply for getting outside and moving, as part of a challenge honoring America’s 250th birthday.
The Outdoor Nebraska 250-Mile Challenge invites participants to log miles through activities like walking, running, kayaking, horseback riding and more using any fitness app. The goal is to reach 250 miles before the end of the year. Once completed, participants fill out a form on the Nebraska Game and Parks website to become eligible for prizes.
Mike Selman, a regular walker at Zorinsky Lake, said the challenge caught his attention.
“I think it’s great, as long as you put in the time and effort,” Selman said.
Selman said getting outdoors is already a big part of his routine.
“I absolutely love it, I love being outdoors, just the beauty, the nature, the trees, the water,” Selman said.
He said one of his favorite aspects of the challenge is the opportunity to explore Nebraska’s many outdoor spaces.
“Especially here, around Zorinsky, Standing Bear, Flanagan, you got great opportunities and great places to go,” Selman said.
When asked if he planned to submit his miles, Selman did not hesitate.
“I’ll definitely think about it, most definitely,” Selman said.
Between Memorial Day and the end of the year, logging just over 1 mile a day would be enough to reach the 250-mile goal and qualify for prizes.
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We’ll have to wait a bit longer to get into the Cowgirls’ Super Regional.
A rainy night in Lincoln meant the teams only managed to get four outs into the Super between Oklahoma State and Nebraska. The game is tied at 0. The weather delay lasted about two hours before they called it.
The game will resume at 4 p.m. Friday and be televised on ESPN2. They will not play another game Friday, as Game 2 will now take place at 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Nebraska football team added its third 2027 offensive line commitment and addition from the state of Georgia on Wednesday.
Loganville (Ga.) Grayson offensive lineman KD Jones officially announced his commitment to NU this week. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Jones picked the Huskers over Georgia Tech, Auburn, Kentucky and Virginia Tech. He visited Lincoln on May 6 and is scheduled to take his official visit to Nebraska on June 6.
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The Huskers first offered Jones in April, after offensive line coach Geep Wade had previously been recruiting him at Georgia Tech.
“Coach Wade called me and offered me today,” Jones told HuskerOnline on Apr. 25. “He has been on me for a long time, ever since he was at Tech. So his interest wasn’t anything new to me. He came to watch me train at school and was amazed. He offered the next day.”
Jones joins safety Corey Hadley from the state of Georgia in NU’s 2027 recruiting class.
“I knew nothing about Nebraska before the offer,” Jones said in April. But now that Coach Wade and Coach (Lonnie) Teasley are there, I know I can trust them.”
Jones had planned to take official visits to all the schools recruiting him, but his early commitment to NU appears to have shut down those visits.
He jones Omaha (Neb.) Millard North’s Matt Erickson and fellow Grayson product Jordan Agbanoma are the other offensive linemen in the Huskers’ 2027 recruiting class. He’s now the 10th commitment in Nebraska’s class of 2027.
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