Controversy Over South Jefferson Land Bank Rules

By Gordon HopkinsThe board of the South Jefferson Land Bank has been accused of not fairly applying its own rules when determining who is and is not eligible to acquire land from the land bank.The controversy centers on the definition of the word, “violation.”A land bank is an entity created by a municipality which generally allows for the acquisition, maintenance, development, and disposition of real property for the purpose of returning it to productive use. The Nebraska Municipal Land Bank Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 18-3401 et seq. (Act), was first passed in 2013, applicable primarily to Omaha and Lincoln, and subsequently amended in 2020, expanding application to the remaining classes of municipalities. According to the land bank’s Rules, Regulations and Policies, in order to be eligible to acquire property, a resident, “Has had no property maintenance, nuisance, building, rental inspection program, or zoning code violations within the previous thirty-six (36) months.” Fairbury resident Kim Thomas has appeared at two Fairbury City Council meetings and, most recently, a meeting of the land bank board, to complain that she was denied the opportunity to purchase land held by the land bank for a proposed community garden due to a misinterpretation of that rule.At the board meeting, held Wednesday, November 12, Thomas said, “I received an unsigned letter from the land bank dated October 9, 2025, regarding a warning letter from Dan Lufkin from December 9, 2024, saying that I was ineligible.”Dan Lufkin is the City of Fairbury’s Code Enforcement Officer. Thomas argues that she did not receive a citation and, therefore, the warning letter from Dan Lufkin does not qualify as a violation. Thomas compared the warning to a “warning from a patrol officer for a violation of a tail light,” as opposed to being given a ticket.“The patrol officer does nothing with the points on my driver’s license. So, I don’t understand why I was taken from this when this is a warning and not a violation,” said Thomas. “I don’t see why I’ve been pulled from eligibility for buying a piece of land and turning it into a community garden for the community.”Michael Gaston, Chair of the South Jefferson Land Bank, said the board could not change her eligibility, “Miss Thomas, regarding that the only reason that you were ineligible is because you have the nuisance violation, which is not what we hand out as the South Jefferson Land Bank.”Gaston advised Thomas she would have to petition the city council to get the violation taken off her record. When she said she had been to the council twice already, she was told by Fairbury Mayor Kelly Davis, who was in attendance at the meeting, she would need to ask to be put on the agenda.FJN reached out to Gaston and asked if he would like to comment on Thomas’ allegations. He responded, “I would not like to comment.”When asked if the land bank made a distinction between a warning and a violation, Gaston did not respond.While violations are referenced in the land bank’s Rules, Regulations and Policies, warnings are not.

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