When Panhandle leaders make their final pitch to the Nebraska Judicial Resources Commission Tuesday to keep the seat of  retired County Judge Charles Plantz of Rushville in the Panhandle, they’ll have the support of the Nebraska Bar Association.

The Resources Commission holds its fall meeting Tuesday morning in Lincoln, where it will consider a state Supreme Court plan to move Sheridan and Grant counties and the judgeship from the 12th Judicial District to the 8th District, then shifting an 8th District judgeship to the juvenile court system in Omaha.

The plan was supported at a commission hearing this summer by the Bar Association’s Judicial Resources Committee, but Scottsbluff Attorney Howard Olsen says the committee changed its mind during a conference call last Friday.

Olson says the committee’s recommendation carries a lot of weight with the Resources Commission because it’s made up of lawyers from across the state.

The 12th Judicial District…which includes the 11 Panhandle counties plus Grant County…has seen a number of judges shifted eastward over the past 20 years, including one district and one county judge in the past 5 years, as the legislature has continued to oppose adding more judges.

Panhandle leaders did not actively oppose the last two shifts…citing an effort to help other parts of the state….but Olsen says losing one more county judge…leaving just 4 to cover the entire Panhandle…would result in case load and travel requirements that are just too large, calling it a matter of “reasonable access to justice.”

The Judicial Resources Commission will take public testimony before making its decission. The meeting is scheduled for the Capitol at 9 a.m. MT, and can be viewed by video conference at the State Office building in Omaha and the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff.