Hon. Terri Harder retires as district court judge in 10th Judicial District

MINDEN, Neb. — A Central Nebraska district court judge is stepping away from the courtroom.

Friday is Terri Harder’s last day as a district court judge for the 10th Judicial District, which includes Adams, Clay, Franklin, Harlan, Kearney, Nuckolls, Phelps, and Webster counties. Harder served on the bench since 1999.

“It has been the biggest honor and privilege of my life to have served the citizens of the State of Nebraska in this position for almost 25 years,” Harder said in her retirement announcement.

Harder is a 1985 graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Law. Before becoming a judge, she worked in private practice for 14 years and served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

Harder retires on the same day as her husband, UNK chancellor Doug Kristensen.

The Judicial Resources Commission is holding a public hearing on June 7 to consider whether Harder’s retirement is causing a vacancy in the 10th Judicial District. The decision will be based on judicial workload statistics, whether litigants have adequate access to the courts, population of the Judicial District, other judicial duties and travel time within the district.. The meeting is at 10:00 at the state capitol and can be watched online: https://supremecourt.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ae8e96284b7e00297615727f9&id=320aad5732&e=5dcdbc99f4.

If a vacancy is determined, the Judicial Nominating Commission will adhere to the following timeline:

• Deadline for Public Hearing: 60 days from time the vacancy is announced by Resources Commission.
• Deadline for applications to be sent to Supreme Court chairperson:  21 days prior to public hearing.
• Applicants' names released to press: 10 days prior to public hearing.
• Deadline for sending selected names to Governor:  90 days from time that vacancy occurs.