SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb.-
Retirements of two judges could cost the Panhandle one of its five district court judges.
Judge Robert Hippe, based in Gering, is scheduled to retire May 1. Judge Paul Empson, based in Chadron, is scheduled to retire June 30.
Robert Chaloupka, a member of the state Judicial Resources Commission, said the commission will discuss those vacancies at its April 2 meeting. The commission will make a recommendation to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
“Our job is to determine if there is a need to fill the two vacancies,” he said. “There has been no decision, but we have anticipated this issue would come for about 10 years.”
Chaloupka said he was sure that Hippe would be replaced but less certain about what would happen to Empson’s bench seat.
If Empson were not replaced, that would leave only four district judges in District 12, which covers the Panhandle.
The commission and the judges have talked about reorganizing the district, he said.
In one scenario, Judge Brian Silverman, who is based in Alliance, would cover the district’s four northern counties: Sioux, Dawes, Box Butte and Sheridan.
Scotts Bluff County Attorney Derek Weimer said there has been talk of moving Empson’s judgeship to eastern Nebraska.
District court judges handle felony cases, divorces, domestic abuse protection orders and major civil cases.
The commission evaluates the need for judges in each district by weighting the number of cases and types.
But that equation doesn’t prove out for judges in rural communities, Weimer said.
The commission’s statistics say the district should have 4.8 district judges, “so they think we are swimming in judges” with the current number of five, he said.
But those five Panhandle judges of District 12 hand out justice over nearly 15,000 square miles.
Western Nebraska judges typically confront travel and scheduling issues that judges in eastern Nebraska don’t have to deal with. And eastern Nebraska judges have more resources such as clerks than are available out west.
“We have plenty of work in this county for the judges we’ve got and to keep them busy,” Weimer said.
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Information from: Star-Herald,
