Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Heavican delivered his State of the Judiciary address to lawmakers on Tuesday. He began by noting the “extraordinary measures” taken to fill the approximately 1,600 vacant judicial positions across the state as of July 2022.
“Along with the new and partially implemented comprehensive salary study, we began giving hiring and referral bonuses as well as retention benefits,” Heavican says. “We also upgraded our judicial branch education opportunities to improve skills and encourage advancement to leadership positions.”
Heaven noted that challenges remain, most notably in the area of mental health. The Legislature has increased provider reimbursement rates in recent years, he said, but the need to expand provider access remains, particularly 24-hour care facilities for the mentally ill. Currently, county jails are the default 24-hour facility, he said.
“I would also call your attention to the ongoing and long-standing problem of mental health competency determinations for criminal defendants to stand trial,” Heavican said. “The Lincoln Regional Center currently has a six month backlog to perform such evaluations. This problem has festered for years and needs a resource supplement.”
Despite that challenge, he said, the courts continue to innovate and expand the use of technology to serve the state and ensure equal access to justice. “Access to the courts in the 21st century means more than the courtroom door is unlocked,” Heavican says. “Please be assured that Nebraska’s judicial branch is always striving to find ways to do it better.”
Heavican pointed out that on any given day there are 14,000 adults and 2,500 juveniles on probation. He says the average annual cost of supervising an adult on probation is about $5,500 a year. “If even a fraction of the 14,000 adult probationers were instead incarcerated, this body would need to build more than one new prison.”
(Photo: Nebraska Unicameral )