June 30, 2017                                                                                                                                    www.nacone.org   NACO E-Line Archive  

Upcoming Events

Save the Dates For: 

Assessors Workshop
- August 28-31, 2017
- Lied Lodge, Nebraska City
Registration   Agenda
   

A
LL UPCOMING EVENTS


Place your logo to advertise here and link it to any website of your choice
For details contact:
LeRoy.Janssen@nacone.org
WHO SUPPORTS NACO AND THEIR MISSION?

 

AssocMembersAssociate and Sustaining Members

NACO Associate and Sustaining Members enable NACO to enhance its continuing education programs for county officials across the state. Visit NACO's complete associate and sustaining membership list here.

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censusbUS Census Bureau Encourages Participation in Local Update of Addresses
Starting in July, governments around the country will start the process of ensuring the accuracy of their address lists through the 2020 Census Local Update of Census Addresses operation. LUCA is a voluntary, once-a-decade opportunity for governments to add, correct or delete addresses on the lists and maps used to conduct the decennial census. An accurate and complete census helps governments plan for future infrastructure, program and service needs.

On July 14, the U.S. Census Bureau will begin mailing invitation letters and registration forms to approximately 39,000 tribal, state and local governments across the nation to encourage them to participate in LUCA. This operation is the only opportunity governments have to review and improve the Census Bureau's residential address list before the 2020 Census.

The Census Bureau relies on a complete and accurate address list to reach every living quarter and associated population for inclusion in the 2020 Census. Participation in LUCA helps ensure an accurate decennial census count in communities across the nation.

LUCA Participation

All LUCA participants receive:
· A complete census address list for their jurisdiction to review and update.
· A list that contains the Census Bureau's count of residential addresses for each census block within their government for reference.
· Census Bureau maps.

Promotional workshops are underway, and starting in October, training workshops will offer "hands-on" experience using the LUCA materials. Self-training aids and webinars will also be available through the LUCA website. Beginning in February 2018, registered participants will receive materials to review the Census Bureau's address list for their jurisdiction, and they will have 120 days to return their updates to the Census Bureau.

Other LUCA milestones and information can be found in the 2020 Census detailed LUCA Information Guide .

Road to the 2020 Census

The goal of the 2020 Census is to count everyone once, only once, and in the right place. The Census Bureau is using expert resources and experience in and out of the government to make the 2020 Census a success. As census operations and testing move forward, the Census Bureau will continue to improve its innovations using mobile and geospatial technology, administrative records and self-response via the internet.

ojjdpOJJDP Grant Announcement
Since Nebraska has chosen not to participate in the Title II program, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) will competitively award the states' allocation to a private nonprofit agency or a local public agency. The solicitation is below and there is a new due date of July 24

Details may be found by clicking here.

For assistance with any this solicitation, contact the Response Center by telephone at 800-851-3420 or by email at grants@ncjrs.gov. Response Center hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET on the solicitation close date. Answers to frequently asked questions that may assist applicants are posted here.

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proposedguidesProposed Practice Guidelines for Attorneys in Juvenile Court
NOTICE OF COMMENT PERIOD

On May 25, 2017, the Supreme Court Commission on Children in the Courts submitted proposed practice guidelines for attorneys in juvenile court pursuant to 2016 Neb. Laws, L.B. 894, now codified at Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-272(5) (Reissue 2016). The Nebraska Supreme Court directed that the proposed practice guidelines be published for a public comment period.

The Nebraska Supreme Court invites interested persons to comment on the proposed practice guidelines.  Anyone desiring to comment on the proposed practice guidelines should do so in writing to the office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, P.O. Box 98910, Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-8910, or via e-mail to ashley.nolte@nebraska.gov, no later than July 5,2017.

The full text of the proposed amendments is available here, or a hard copy may be obtained from the office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals upon request.

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schoolassocSchool Law and Juvenile Law Seminar Set For July 6
Intersection of School Law and Juvenile Law: An Interdisciplinary Approach

The Nebraska Council of School Attorneys and the Nebraska Bar Association are hosting a seminar on July 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the University of Nebraska College of Law located at 1875 North 42nd Street in Lincoln, Nebraska dealing with the above named disciplinary approach to youth intervention.

To review the program agenda and to obtain registration information for the event, click here.

custodialwkshpCounty Custodial Staff Workshop
The NACO Board of Directors in 2016 gave approval to develop a courthouse restoration and improvement project designed to educate courthouse maintenance staff and those responsible to keep county properties in good repair.   Jerry Berggren of Berggren Architects developed the idea after visiting several counties in the state and noted the need for custodial and maintenance staff and elected county board members to keep our historic keepsakes in top shape to preserve our heritage and remain functional into the future. A key component to honing and perfecting a suitable environment with building upkeep lies encompassed within the joint decision making of the staff completing the work and the county board members responsible for providing support through educational opportunities, financial backing, and a reflection of pride in the presentation of our county properties.

Berggren felt that a strong tie with the Nebraska community colleges would help to enhance the project ideas of education, geographic diversity and support from the community college program development staff. The Northeast Nebraska Community College was the first to sponsor and present ideas at the Spring NACO District meeting to county board members. The work continues in this endeavor to host a fall custodial workshop through the Southeast Community College in Beatrice in October. Other community college sites will be considered for future meetings.

The working group at this time is seeking input from county board members and custodial and maintenance staff to determine what type of training and education is most pertinent and beneficial for everyone involved. The one-day workshop will seek up to 25 two-person registrations. One registrant will be the maintenance/custodial staff person and the other would be the county board member chosen to attend who would take a lead role in educating the other board members of the significance of the maintenance role in building upkeep.  October 5, 2017 is the projected workshop date.  Further details will follow in future editions of this newsletter.

NACO is looking for topics of interest from county board members and county maintenance staff to determine educational presentations at the one-day workshop. After a general session, part of the day will be for staff education, part of the day will be for the education of the county board members and the day will conclude with a joint courthouse tour to review the lessons learned and to further the camaraderie of the attendees to develop relationships with other counties and their processes.

If you have a topic of interest that you would like to see on the workshop agenda please email LeRoy Janssen or give him a call at 402-434-6225 Ext. 221.

LegallineLegal Line
Editor's Note: Legal Line is a feature that will periodically appear in NACO E-Line. This edition has been prepared by Elaine Menzel of the NACO legal staff. Legal Line is not intended to serve as legal advice. Rather, it is published to alert readers to court decisions and legal or advisory matters important to county government. For a specific opinion on how the information contained in this article or that which will be discussed in future issues relates to your county, consult your county attorney or personal counsel.

Courts Rule on PSTCA Cases

Supreme Court Case
The Supreme Court recently ruled on a Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act (PSTCA) case, specifically dealing with the "innocent third party" provisions for damages caused by a law enforcement officer's vehicular pursuit as provided by Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-911. Fales v. County of Stanton, 297 Neb. 41, --- N.W. --- (2017). For an individual to recover under the strict liability provisions of the law enforcement officer's vehicular pursuit section of the PSTCA, three elements must be proved:
(1)    The person seeking to recover was an innocent third party,
(2)   Law enforcement was engaged in a vehicular pursuit, and
(3)   The pursuit caused the death, injury or property damage.

The district court found in favor of the County. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's determination by beginning and ending its inquiry with whether or not the plaintiff was an innocent third party and if not, the County is not liable regardless of if the other elements were met.

"An 'innocent third party' under § 13-911 is one who has not promoted, provoked, or persuaded the driver to engage in flight from law enforcement personnel and one who is not sought to be apprehended in the fleeing vehicle." (Citations omitted.) In this case, when the plaintiff threw beer out of the pickup truck, which the deputy sheriff observed, he lost his status as a potential "innocent third party."

In the County's counterclaim to the lawsuit, it asserted that § 13-911(1) and (2) were unconstitutional because the strict liability standard conflicted with or implicitly amended § 60-6,1114(1), (2), and (3) which imposed an ordinary negligence standard on "police vehicles" during a pursuit. The county requested, among other things, a declaration that 1981 Neb. Laws, L.B. 273, was facially unconstitutional, null and void. However, since the Court found that the County was not liable for the plaintiff's injuries, it did not need to consider the County's constitutional challenge related to § 13-911.

To see a copy of the full opinion, click
here.

Court of Appeals Case
In another case that included PSTCA claims and others, the Court of Appeals considered five causes of action asserted by the plaintiff. See Craw v. City of Lincoln, 24 Neb. App. 788, --- N.W. --- (2017).

Plaintiff had been terminated by the City and he filed a complaint alleging four causes of action related to his employment and termination. In his fifth cause of action, the plaintiff had not first filed a written complaint under the Wage Payment and Collection Act.

The court found that the district court properly dismissed with prejudice plaintiff's first cause of action for an alleged tort claim under the PSTCA and his second and third causes of action for inverse condemnation; were affirmed with respect to those portions of the district court's order. However, we find that the district court erred in dismissing plaintiff's fourth cause of action (due process and equal protection) because he provided fair notice of that claim, which is all that is required at the pleading stage. Additionally, the court reversed the dismissal with prejudice of his fifth cause of action (Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act) only insofar as he was not provided an opportunity to amend his pleading to address the procedural prerequisites noted by the district court's order; we otherwise affirm the district court's determination as to those procedural prerequisites. Accordingly, we reverse the district court's dismissal of Craw's fourth and fifth causes of action and remand the matter for further proceedings.
  
To see a copy of the full opinion, click here.
 
codirectory2017-2018 Directory of County Officials
NACO's 2017-2018 Directory of County Officials is a valuable resource that not only gives you names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses of every county official in the state, but includes a listing of county board meeting days, NACO districts, county seats, NACO officers and directors, affiliate officers and NACO staff. 

The NACO Directory is also still be available in electronic format by selecting the "Directory of County Officials" icon on the NACO webpage.  The electronic version is updated on a regular basis and contains the changes that occur between printings of the hard copies.
 
A printed directory is available for $19.00 if non-taxable and $20.00 if taxable.

Countygovernementdaycd  County Government Day PowerPoint
The PowerPoint presentation is available electronically at no charge (sent via e-mail) for use by counties during their annual County Government Day. The PowerPoint provides a comprehensive look at county government functions in the State of Nebraska and can be customized by each county. CD's are also available for $10.00 each to cover processing, shipping and handling. To request the County Government Day PowerPoint electronically, please e-mail your request to larrydix@nacone.org .

The CD order form is available here.

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County_Board_Handbook_2012  2016 County Board  Handbook and Revision s
The 2016 County Board Handbook and related revisions are now available.

The cost for a current handbook, including legislative information from the 2016 session, is $80.00/book plus $18.00 shipping and handling per book. The 2016 Supplement to the County Board Handbook is available for $25.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. The order form is available on the NACO website or by clicking here.  If you are interested in purchasing a complete handbook or a supplement  please contact
Deb Eberly by email or call her at (402) 434-5660 ext. 232.
   
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NACoNews From NACo
EPA and Corps propose to withdraw WOTUS rule;
House proposes to limit public participation in WOTUS rewrite
By Julie Ufner
June 29, 2017

On June 27, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) signed a notice initiating the first step of a two-step process to review and rewrite the "Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS)" rule finalized in 2015.

The proposed rule on Definition of "Waters of the United States" - Recodification of Pre-existing Rules would withdraw the 2015 rule and reinstitute regulations that were in place prior to the 2015 WOTUS rule. Once the recodification notice is published in the Federal Register, the EPA and Corps will accept public comments on the proposal for 30 days. The agencies' action is in accordance with President Trump's February 28 Executive Order (EO) 13778: Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the "Waters of the U.S." Rule. As step two of the process, the agencies plan to release a revised WOTUS proposed rule sometime this fall. The revised definition is expected to be narrower in scope and limited to those waters that flow most of the year.

To read the entire article, click here
.

Senate Leaders Postpone Vote on Health Bill; NACo Urges Continued Outreach
By Brian Bowden
June 27, 2017
 
Despite delaying an intended vote on their health overhaul bill until after the July 4th recess, Senate leadership and the Trump Administration continue working overtime to find the needed votes in the Senate for passage even as number of Republican senators expressed reservations after the release of a new budget analysis issued by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The report estimates that the Senate's "Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA)" would lead to 22 million more uninsured individuals, including 15 million fewer Medicaid enrollees, by the end of the next decade (as compared to estimates under current law). Federal spending on Medicaid would decline by $772 billion, or 26 percent, over the same time frame-savings which would help pay for tax cuts contained in other provisions within the bill. In total, the CBO estimates the bill would lead to a $321 billion reduction in the federal deficit over the next decade.

To read the entire article, click here.

websNACo Webinars
SLLC Supreme Court Review Webinar
July 13, 2017
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm CDT 
Contact: Daria Daniel
(202) 942-4212

First Amendment and police cases dominated the Supreme Court's state and local government docket this term. Discuss these and other cases of interest to states and local governments with Mike Scodro, Mayer Brown, who argued one of the police cases this term, Kyle Duncan, Schaerr Duncan, and Ken Jost, author of Supreme Court yearbook and Jost on Justice.