Next Steps for County Attorney

By Gordon HopkinsAccording to unofficial results, Jefferson County Attorney Joseph Casson is now the Thayer County Attorney. He defeated his challenger, write-in candidate Julie Effenbeck of Chester, 1,380 to 463 votes.The current Thayer County Attorney, Dan Werner, did not run for re-election. Likewise, Casson opted not to file for re-election in Jefferson County, instead choosing to run in Thayer County. No other candidates filed, either. Although there were 120 write-in ballots cast in Jefferson County, Election Commissioner Kris Riggle advised FJN, “We did not have a write-in affidavit on file for the county attorney race, so we will only report the write-ins as a total. We will not review those write-ins.”None of this necessarily means Casson will not continue to serve as county attorney for Jefferson County.Difficulties in recruiting attorneys in rural communities have led to county attorneys being forced into “double duty,” working for multiple counties. County attorney is an elected official but, if no one runs, then counties are able to contract with an attorney. Any lawyer who runs for county attorney must live in the county or an adjoining county. According to state statute, if nobody runs for the office, the county board can contract with any attorney anywhere in the state of Nebraska to do the job.Jefferson County may contract with Casson to continue serving as Jefferson County Attorney while also acting as Thayer County Attorney. County Commissioner Michael Dux told FJN that, as of now, “We have made no decisions as to the County Attorney.”Casson spoke to Jefferson County Commissioner last year and advised them of his decision to run in Thayer County, “So I want you to be aware of that issue. Because when we're talking about retention, you set a salary to keep your elected official so they'll run for re-election. That works as long as it's somebody who is young enough that they're looking at retaining their position. We have to look at recruitment when we get to the point where our elected officials are at retirement age.”Casson pointed out that the County Attorney is not like some other county officials because of the significant educational requirements to become an attorney, “And when it comes to County Attorney, it's more difficult to recruit somebody for that position than it is for the other elected officials. Sheriff is also a unique person that has to have specialized training. It isn't like just anybody from the county can run for that office.”How the System Has ChangedCasson said, “The system when I graduated from law school, there were probably 15 of us who became county attorneys across the state, fresh out of law school. And it became a way to learn the job. The job is little more complex now. So, what most young attorneys are doing, are taking deputy county attorney positions in the larger counties to then go into private practice. Again, the county attorney has usually been a training ground for lawyers to become private practice defense attorneys.”Casson added, “It's not like it used to be, where you prosecuted drunk drivers and it's a fairly easy job. The job has become more complex and more responsibility. So young attorneys are not going to take the boss's job where you have all the responsibility. You're going to work somewhere else as a deputy county attorney, so that you don't have all the responsibilities. That's the part that's making it hard to fill these positions, because young attorneys don't want to take on that all of that responsibility. Because you have to advise the county board, you have to do criminal prosecutions, you have to do juvenile prosecutions, mental health, draw the contracts.Finding Attorneys with Local TiesCasson believes that even a competitive salary is not sufficient to convince a new person to move to a rural community like Jefferson County.“So we need to realistically look at the future. Some new attorney is going to have to come to town to do my job, because I will retire someday, soon,” Casson said. “I think realistically, the only way you're going to get somebody to come into a county is they have some ties to that county in some way. That recruiting somebody to move here, it's becoming more difficult to accomplish.”Casson said, “In my mind, you're not going to attract someone outside to come here, based on the salary. It's going to have to be, they have some tie to the community. That's why I think it's important that we start the process now, to encourage someone in the area to become a lawyer and devote to public service in the county. Because we're, quite frankly, we're losing that notion of public service. Just look around at who volunteers for things. We're really short on volunteers and people who devote their time to community service. It's getting hard.”

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