Campaign Promises Made. Campaign Promises Kept. (August 3, 2025)
Hello friends and fellow advocates for rights for all, regardless of income. The purpose of this article is to update you on just some of the things that I’ve been doing since I was elected Lancaster County Public Defender in 2022. When I started back to work in the Office in 2023, there was a lot of work to be done to make up for the many things left undone during the previous 8 years.
One important area of concern was our case management system, which was in dire need of updating. In fact, it had been recommended as far back as 2014 that the system be upgraded. The old, outdated system caused ongoing and increasing glitches which the Office had to deal with on a daily basis. Neglecting this needed change had caused headaches for nearly a decade, and we needed a solution.
After exhaustive research, we vetted around a dozen different case management systems. After weighing the various pros and cons, we decided, in lieu of a completely new system, to implement a major upgrade to our current system. The idea was to maximize the efficiency of the system and bring it up to date with current standards and protocols. At the same time, I wanted to minimize the learning curve that would have come with a whole new product. We had a go-live date at the beginning of June, and the progress continues. Modernization, with an eye towards functionality and affordability, is a benefit to the Office, our clients, and taxpayers. I am thankful that I was able to work with the County Board and present them with a workable and cost-effective plan to help the Office.
When I ran for Public Defender, I promised to be a leader who would show up and work hard, and I have done that. Everyone in the Office works tirelessly. We don’t need a political figurehead. We don’t need someone who is in it for the glory or to feed their own ego or to assist in their own social climbing. We need someone who is a daily presence, taking cases, mentoring the younger attorneys, and managing the staff.
I campaigned on fiscal responsibility. It is extremely important to be cognizant of the realities of a budget, and to be a good steward of taxpayer money. One of my campaign promises was to maintain my own caseload as an attorney. Since I’ve been back in the Office, I’ve closed 145 cases, have 35 open cases, handle the vast majority of not responsible by reason of insanity reviews, assist with the Mental Health Board docket, and have taken over other attorneys’cases as needed. This not only assists the attorneys in the Office but saves the taxpayer money. Every case I take on is one less that other attorneys in the Office don’t need to handle. By doing this, I help to decrease the need for our Office to file motions to withdraw due to exceeding caseload standards. (More on caseload standards in another article to come).
Being the Public Defender is more than a full-time job. It is not an easy job. As my partner can attest, I routinely work well beyond 40 hours a week. There are nearly 50 employees, from myriad backgrounds, who all work hard, often under stressful conditions. It is a constant challenge to serve our clients while making sure that the staff and attorneys have what they need. Every day, I draw upon my decades of experience to make policies that are fair and equitable to all staff and that best serve the people of Lancaster County.
The things that keep me going are first, my love of the Office and the people who serve in it, and my unwavering belief in our mission to serve. No, it’s not an easy job, but I knew that already when I decided to run for Public Defender. It keeps me busy, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
As always, my door is open, and I thank you for your support.
-Kristi Egger, Lancaster County Public Defender
Diversion and Problem-Solving Court Shrinkage? Blame the County Attorney. (June 2, 2025)
Here in the Lancaster County Public Defender’s Office, we work hard to assist our clients to get them the help they need. At the same time, we are striving for outcomes that serve the best interests of our clients and serve the best interests of our community as a whole. Oftentimes that involves applying our clients for Diversion, Problem-Solving Programs and Problem-Solving Courts. Diversion and Problem-Solving Courts are important programs that help accomplish both of those goals. How so? In a few important ways:
These programs place a strong emphasis on structured supervision and personal accountability, helping the person get the specific treatment they need. This more directly addresses what brought them into the court system to begin with, teaching them how to make better decisions in the future. The focus is on rehabilitation, not incarceration. This approach decreases recidivism and helps people build better lives. The alternative approach, jail and/or prison is far more costly to the county and more harmful to our citizens in the long run.
In 2024, the Public Defender’s Office closed approximately 175 cases where people participated in various diversion/problem solving programs and treatment courts. This does not include the cases that are still open, with people currently involved in diversion/program/court. The largest number of case dismissals (which is the desired end result) occurred in the Pretrial Diversion Program, a program available only for misdemeanor cases. Approximately 108 people successfully completed PTD. The next highest amount of participation was in the Mental Health Problem-Solving Program, followed by Drug Court, the fairly new DUI Court, Treatment Problem-Solving Program, and last, Veteran’s Court.
Also last year, the Public Defender’s Office had 36 clients admitted to the Adult Drug Court program. Of those, 13 clients had their cases dismissed, and 11 clients were transferred back to the regular criminal court for unsuccessful participation. In 2023, the numbers were 23 admitted, 7 dismissed, and 6 transferred, respectively. In 2022, those numbers were 20, 3, and 4, respectively.
In 2024, the number of participants admitted to the various programs/courts increased, and we had hoped that this trend would continue in the future. However, it may not, due to the County Attorney’s decision in April 2025, to prohibit people with domestic assault (DV) charges from applying for problem-solving programs. This is in spite of the fact that Community Corrections, the County agency in charge of running the diversion and problem-solving programs, has been very successful helping people with DV cases in the general diversion and the applicable problem-solving programs.
Mr. Condon was interviewed in March by 10/11 News. He was then asked about whether or not a problem-solving court dedicated specifically to helping perpetrators of domestic violence could be created in Lancaster County, modelled after one functioning in Scott County, Tennessee. Condon responded:
“I think there’s a cost associated with it, so you know, we would have to figure out how we would pay those costs, but there’s a cost because the county would probably be paying it if it’s a diversion program,” . . . “I would say that, you know, probably be worthwhile to take a look at it, see what the, you know what the recidivism rate is... You know if it’s successful, then yeah, we could look into doing something like that.”
The irony is that Lancaster County already had programs where perpetrators of domestic violence could be helped, and the County Attorney stopped admitting them into those programs the very next month. Those programs were the general diversion, the intensive supervision problem-solving, and mental health problem-solving programs. Although the eligibility criteria on the website https://www.lancaster.ne.gov/1015/Problem-Solving-Programs still includes domestic assault as an eligible offense for pre-trial diversion and applicable problem-solving programs, our Public Defender’s Office has been told that clients “need not apply” as they will not be accepted, as of the end of April, 2025. https://www.lancaster.ne.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21518/2024-Pre-Trial-Diversion-Eligibility-Criteria?bidId=
Several clients with pending DV cases for whom we applied for admittance into problem-solving programs and diversion were told they were no longer eligible, their applications were removed, and they were denied admission into programs that would help them, their families, and our community.
This is not fair, you might say. Why can the County Attorney arbitrarily do this?! Unfortunately, the Nebraska Legislature has given him sole discretion to do so, although he is supposed to make these determinations taking into consideration the input of other community officials and stakeholders.
https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=29-3602 https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=29-3603
And, although Section 29-3603 says “(a) pretrial diversion plan for criminal offenses shall include, but not be limited to: 1) (f)ormal eligibility guidelines established following consultation with criminal justice officials and program representatives. The guidelines shall be written and made available and routinely disseminated to all interested parties.”
That may have been the reality when the diversion program was initially created, but it exists no longer. Changes are made despite the protestations of my Office, private attorneys, clients and other community stakeholders. And if defense attorneys fuss too much, what we hear from the County Attorney is a dismissive, “well, I can just shut down the programs completely.” In other words, the County Attorney giveth, and the County Attorney taketh away.
So, what can you do? Make your voice heard. You can ask County Attorney Condon to change course and let people with DV cases back into the programs, so they can get the help they need to reduce recidivism. You can tell Judges and County Commissioners and City Council members how important these programs are, so that the programs cannot be eliminated and can continue to be funded. You can talk to people who may have criminal charges pending, and promote the programs, so people will be more encouraged to gain the benefits of the programs and not “just take a fine or jail” and be done with it. Education, training, guidance, and breaking bad habits and learning new good ones helps us all.
Kristi Egger
Lancaster County Public Defender