Nebraska Supreme Court tours southeast Nebraska

WILBER, NEB. - Members of the Nebraska Supreme Court are taking time to learn more about judicial operations in the state’s southeast region.

“We want to know what’s working across the state at all of our court houses and what’s not… We get a lot of input from all of our local judges, county attorneys and public defenders so we can do out job better.”

Chief Justice Michael Heavican and a handful of dignitaries toured the Saline County Courthouse in Wilber on Tuesday morning. Before making their way to the courthouse, they made a stop at Doane University in Crete, where they have a cooperative program through the probation staff.

“We hope to expand that to include all the other things the courts do,” Heavican said. “Court administration, public guardian… So we can help young people make careers out of access to justice.”

Heavican said he was impressed with the upkeep of the courthouse, which completed a $7.3-milion an addition in 2019.  As part of the tour, dignitaries were given a briefing on the courthouse’s new assistive listening equipment. A part of access to justice.

“In today’s world, not everyone speaks or understands English in Nebraska,” Heavican said. “We have over 40 different interpreter services or languages that get interpreted in our court system… We also have people who are hard of hearing or deaf and that’s part of access to justice too.”