McCook judges receive high marks

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The Nebraska State Bar Association released results of its 2010 Judicial Performance Evaluation recently and both McCook judges scored very well.

County Court Judge Anne Paine and District Court Judge David Urbom were both among the 78 Nebraska judges that were given a 90 percent or higher retention approval. Forty-five Nebraska judges received an 80-89 percent retention approval, 13 were in the 70 to 79 percent range and only four received a retention percentage below 50 percent.

Three of those four judges were from District 4 (Omaha) and the fourth was Judge Kent Florom of District 11 (North Platte).

Both Paine and Urbom received an average score of more than four on a scale of one to five, with one being very poor and five being excellent, in all 11 of the categories evaluated. The categories ranged from legal analysis to performance of duties in a prompt and timely manner and included categories such as impartiality.

The judicial evaluation poll has been conducted every other year since 1984. Evaluation forms were mailed to 4,840 active Nebraska State Bar Association members who were asked only to evaluate judges they had professional experience with.

An independent research firm was then used to compile results from the 1,129 completed evaluations received.

To see detailed results of the evaluation or to learn more about the Nebraska State Bar Association visit www.nebar. com.