A lifelong Nebraskan and Democrat, Kristi Egger grew up in the Firth/Hickman area, graduating from Norris High School. She has always felt a strong sense of mission to help others, especially those Nebraskans who needed that help the most. Even before entering college, Kristi’s aim was to be a lawyer serving people unable to afford one. Her entire career, she has remained strong in her belief that those in crisis and in need of legal representation should receive the best possible defense, regardless of their financial status.

Kristi has always demonstrated a strong work ethic, working part-time through college and law school. She graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a Bachelor of Arts, and then took a year off from school to earn money for law school. While attending the UNL College of Law Kristi worked as a clerk in the Lancaster County Public Defender’s Office. This experience confirmed Kristi’s calling to serve the public, practicing as a criminal defense attorney.

After earning her law degree, Kristi’s first position was with the Hall County Public Defender’s Office, where she lived and worked for a year. Her excellent work reputation and her experience before and after graduation earned her a call from Dennis Keefe, then Lancaster County Public Defender, who asked her to come work in Lincoln. Throughout her career, she continued to work diligently and effectively for the Office as a Deputy Public Defender for the last 32 years until she retired in January 2022 with the intent to become the next Lancaster County Public Defender.

While working in the Public Defender’s Office over the past three decades, Kristi handled every type of case, including juvenile, misdemeanors, felonies, appeals, child support and paternity, mental health civil commitments, and cases where a person’s mental illness affects their responsibility for criminal charges. With her experience in the area of mental health, she saw the need for an attorney from the Public Defender’s Office to serve on the Mental Health Diversion team. For the last several years Kristi has filled that role in this problem-solving program, which seeks to keep people suffering from severe mental illness outside the criminal court system.

Kristi’s dedication, her years of public service, and the breadth of her experience have prepared her to effectively lead the Office of Lancaster County Public Defender. In May of 2022, she won the Nebraska Primary against the incumbent, and in November that year, she was elected as Lancaster County’s Public Defender, the first woman to hold that office in the county.

Growing up, Kristi was a member of the Hickman Presbyterian Church. She was an active member of the Firth Reformed Church for over 25 years, where she taught Sunday School, Youth Group, and Children’s Choir. Kristi also loves to sing, served as a Worship Leader and acted in many church plays through the years.

Kristi has two adult children who keep her current with new movies and popular culture. She is an avid recycler, reader, and hiker and enjoys exploring our U.S. National Parks. Kristi is proud to support Habitat for Humanity, Boys Town, United Way, the Arbor Day Foundation, and the Brownville Village Theatre, to name a few. She also enjoys serving on the Case Committee for the Nebraska State Bar Foundation’s High School Mock Trial Program. Kristi loves her central Lincoln neighborhood where she lives with her partner, Graham House, a musician who plays with Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra and works with students at UNL’s Glenn Korff School of Music.