BEATRICE – County and district courtrooms will be getting an audio-visual upgrade over the next couple of weeks, in Gage County. It’s part of a Nebraska Justice initiative to upgrade technology in all of Nebraska’s courts.


Some $160,000 of improvements, paid through state funding, will be done in Beatrice. District Court Judge Rick Schreiner says the work includes a new sound system, TV monitors for the gallery, counsel tables and the judge’s bench along with a control module the judge has access to.


"It really came at a good time for us because our sound system was beginning to fail after being about ten years old. When the state said it was willing to do this for free, we jumped right on it. We're probably in the middle of the installations being done...we've got an installation going on here, in Johnson County and in Pawnee County, coming up as well. It's going to allow us to do zoom hearings, remote hearings....it should kind of help educate the public. We're going to open this up at some point, I'm sure to the public, and give an idea of how we do things in the courtrooms."


One goal is consistency of the systems from one judicial district to the next. Judge Schreiner says the system may help save time and costs, to some degree.
"Hopefully, I'll be able to do remote hearings from the jails that we're not doing now, which will help regarding transport from jails...help save some costs with the sheriff's office. I'm still a little bit old school when it comes to the travel. Pawnee County pays for a district court judge, Pawnee County ought to have a district court judge there, sitting in the courthouse and available to the public. So, we're still going to have the travel....it's not going to stop that at all. It will allow us to get more done, I think."


How the system will affect television coverage of trials or sentencing hearings is yet to be sorted out. Schreiner says in the district courtroom, there will be four cameras……one showing the judge, one showing the witness stand and two cameras pointed toward the state and defense counsel tables. The jury would not be shown.  Currently, citizens can see live television coverage of arguments before the Nebraska Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.


Gage County District Court was one of the two initial districts in the state to begin using audio coverage of court proceedings….which has now spanned three district court judges….the late Judge William Rist, Judge Paul Korslund and now Judge Rick Schreiner.


Establishing rules for television coverage has been a learning experience not without challenges. "I tell the media this, when it comes down to it...there's a decision to made during that trial about what kind of media is going to be going out and what's not. I'm always going to fall down on the side of a fair trial. That's for both parties, the defendant and the state. I remind the media, if there's a guilty verdict in this, you're not the one who's going to be serving the time....so, that's the way it goes."


The courtroom technology work in Beatrice is being done by audio-visual technology firm, CTI.