The man most impacted by the Nebraska Judicial Resources Commission’s decision yesterday to keep the county judgeship of the retired Charles Plantz in the northern Panhandle is understandably happy with it.

County Judge Russ Harford has been traveling to Alliance all year to pick up most the caseload that Plantz handled there, and also covered Sheridan County until late summer when County Judge James Orr of Valentine began making weekly trips to Rushville.

Harford says he’s looking forward to being able to cut down on his travel and having more time to focus on the many cases he’ll still be handling.

Although Judge Plantz was officially based in Rushville, he actually spent most of his time in Box Butte County Court in Alliance. Harford expects the new judge to be based there, while he’ll cover the three Highway 20 counties.

That doesn’t mean Harford won’t be traveling to other parts of the Panhandle as well. He says all of the judges in region occasionally cover for each other because of conflicts of interest or illness, a necessity given the distances involved and the limited number of judges.

In fact, he says operating with just 4 judges this year has forced delays in some cases because the increased caseloads have made it more difficult for them to shift their schedules to help out one another.

Driving a long way for many months to help another judge was one of Harford’s first experience as a judge. Less than a week after Harford began as a judge in September 2009, Judge Glenn Camerer of Scotts Bluff County suffered injuries that led to his retirement without returning to work.

Harford drove to Gering…generally multiple times a week…for the next year until Judge Kris Mickey finally took the bench as Camerer’s successor in September 2010.