United States District Court for the District of Nebraska

	District of Nebraska
	Eighth Circuit
	Active judges
	Bataillon • Gerrard
	Senior Judges
	Shanahan • Strom • Urbom • Kopf
	Magistrate Judges
	Zwart • Talken • Gossett
	Former Judges

	District of Nebraska
	Eighth Circuit
	Active judges
	Bataillon • Gerrard
	Senior Judges
	Shanahan • Strom • Urbom • Kopf
	Magistrate Judges
	Zwart • Talken • Gossett
	Former Judges

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Court
Judges

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(Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.)
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Contents

1 Court
1.1 Vacancy warning level
1.2 Jurisdiction
1.2.1 Cases heard
1.2.2 Case load
1.3 Clerk's office
1.4 History
1.4.1 Court history
1.4.2 Judicial posts
1.4.3 Notable decisions
1.4.4 Federal courthouse
1.5 Major news
1.6 See also
1.7 External links
1.8 References
2 Judges

The United States District Court for the District of Nebraska is the United States district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Nebraska. The main courthouse is located in Omaha, with other locations in Lincoln, and North Platte.

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Nebraska represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current United States Attorney is Joe W. Stecher. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown St. Louis at the Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse and Building.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the District of Nebraska's vacancy warning level is currently set at green. The court currently has no vacancies.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of Nebraska (click for larger map)

The jurisdiction of the District of Nebraska consists of all the counties in the state of Nebraska.

The main courthouse is located in Omaha, with other locations in Lincoln, and North Platte.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown St. Louis at the Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse and Building.

Cases heard

The District of Nebraska has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics^*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time(Criminal)^**:	Median time(Civil)^**:	3 Year Civil cases^#:	Vacant posts:^##	Trials/Post
2010	1108	1681	2789	1810	979	8.2	8.6	18(3.1%)	.0	30
2009	1130	1680	2810	1798	1012	8.3	8.2	12(2.0%)	0	43
2008	1123	1593	2716	1667	1049	7.8	9.1	14(2.3%)	.0	31
2007	1455	1710	3165	2146	1019	8.3	11.3	20(3.1%)	.0	34
2006	1442	1827	3269	1984	1285	10.1	9.6	32(3.4%)	.0	39

^*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September. ^**Time in months from filing to completion.
^#This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts. ^##This is the total number of months that any all judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Clerk's office

The District of Nebraska has three separate courthouses. The Clerk's office is open Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m, excluding Federal holidays. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number
Lincoln City Division	Robert V. Denney Federal Building 593 Federal Building 100 Centennial Mall North Lincoln, NE 68508-3803	Phone: (402) 437-1900 Toll Free: 866-220-4379 Fax: (402) 437-1911
North Platte Division	United States Courthouse United States Post Office 300 E. 3rd Street North Platte, NE 69101	Toll Free: 866-220-4381 or 866-220-4379
Omaha Division	Roman L. Hruska Federal Courthouse 111 South 18th Plaza Suite 1152 Omaha, NE 68102	Phone: (402) 661-7350 Toll Free: 866-220-4381 Fax: (402) 661-7387

^[1]

History

Court history

The District of Nebraska was established by Congress and assigned to the Eighth Circuit on March 25, 1867 with one post to cover the entire state. Over time 2 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 3 current posts.^[2]

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the District of Nebraska:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
March 25, 1867	15 Stat. 5	1
February 27, 1907	34 Stat. 997	2
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	3
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	4 (1 temporary)
2004	Temporary post removed	3

^[2]

Notable decisions

For a searchable list of opinions, please see The Guide to Nebraska Court Records.

Gay Marriage Case

The Chief Judge of the District of Nebraska is Judge Joseph Bataillon. In May 2005, he struck down a constitutional amendment passed by Nebraska voters in 2000 that would have banned same-sex marriages. That decision, however, was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In its opinion issued on July 14, 2006, the Eighth Circuit held: the amendment was rationally related to legitimate state interests, and therefore did not violate the Equal Protection Clause; the amendment could not be considered a bill of attainder; the amendment did not violate the First Amendment right of those with a same-sex orientation to associate; and the amendment did not violate the First Amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Federal courthouse

Three separate courthouses serve the District of Nebraska.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see Nebraska judicial news.

External links

References

↑ Court Clerk Information(Select the appropriate division for info and map)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 FJC History of the District of Nebraska

Share this Court:

Key:
(Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.)
0%	0%-10%
10%-25%	25%-40%
More than 40%

Contents

1 Court
2 Judges
2.1 Active Judges
2.1.1 Article III judges
2.1.2 Pending appointments
2.1.3 Senior judges
2.2 Past judges
2.2.1 Former Chief judges
2.2.2 Former judges

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the District of Nebraska has 3 posts and 0 vacancies. The current Chief Judge is Laurie Smith Camp. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Judge John Gerrard	1953	Schuyler, NE	Obama	1/23/2012 - Current		Richard Kopf	Nebraska Wesleyan University, 1976	University of the Pacific Law, 1981
Judge Joseph Bataillon	1949	Omaha, NE	Clinton	9/18/1997 - Current	2004 - 2011	Lyle Strom	Creighton U., B.A., 1971	Creighton U. School of Law, J.D., 1974
Chief Judge Laurie Smith Camp	1953	Omaha, NE	W. Bush	10/24/2001 - Current	2011 - Current	William Cambridge	Stanford U., B.A., 1974	U. of Nebraska College of Law, J.D., 1977

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the District of Nebraska has 4 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge Richard Kopf	H.W. Bush	5/26/1992 - 12/1/2011	1999 - 2004	12/1/2011 - Current	Kearney State College (now U. of Nebraska at Kearney), B.A., 1969	U. of Nebraska College of Law, J.D., 1972
Senior Judge Lyle Strom	Reagan	10/28/1985 - 11/2/1995	1987 - 1994	11/2/1995 - Current	Creighton U., B.A., 1950	Creighton U. School of Law, J.D., 1953
Senior Judge Warren Urbom	Nixon	4/24/1970 - 12/31/1990	1972 - 1986	12/31/1990 - Current	Nebraska Wesleyan U., A.B., 1950	U. of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1953

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Thomas Thalken
Magistrate Judge F.A. Gossett III	1998 - Current	Midland U., 1967	Creighton U., J.D., 1972
Magistrate Judge Cheryl Renae Zwart

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Richard Robinson	1957 - 1972
John Delehant	1956 - 1957
James Donohoe	1948 - 1956
Arlen Beam	1986 - 1987
William Cambridge	1994 - 1999
Warren Urbom	1972 - 1986
Lyle Strom	1987 - 1994
Richard Kopf	1999 - 2004
Joseph Bataillon	2004 - 2011

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.