County Attorney and Deputy County Attorney CLE Process and Procedures

OVERVIEW

County attorneys and deputy county attorneys are required to have 20 hours of continuing education each year. For their first and second years in the position, there are slightly different requirements, namely mandated training in radar and crimes against children.

Highlights:

CLE Forms are due by January 31 each year.
No hours required when county attorney or deputy county attorney assumes office after July 1 of that year.
Excess hours cannot be carried over into subsequent years.
Every county attorney office shall submit an annual roster of deputy county attorneys that are in office as of June 30 and by August 1 of each year to the Commission.

COUNTY ATTORNEY CES vs. MCLEs

This CLE requirement and program is not affiliated in any way with the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) program administered by the Nebraska Supreme Court. This means the Commission does not have access to your MCLE training record and therefore is unaware of the training you have entered into it. That said, you may enter training sessions taken for MCLE credit for credit under the County Attorney CLE program as long it meets program criteria and you list it on the form submitted to the Commission.

For information on the Supreme Court’s MCLE program, please visit the Supreme Court site

FLEXIBILITY

In 2020, the Commission made the CLE program more user-friendly and created a program wherein attorneys could decide what training counted as long as it met a set of simple criteria in the self-test and attestation on the CLE form.

Self-test Elements

No session was a speech at a luncheon or banquet.
All sessions covered a topic(s) relevant my duties as a deputy/county attorney.
All instructors appeared to be qualified to teach the course or session.
Any legal courses were taught only by attorneys.
Out of state courses, if any, met the same standards as noted above.
All radar training covered electronic speed measurement principles.
All crimes against children class covered investigation and prosecution.
No more than 5 hours of self-paced study has been included.
No more than 5 hours of course instruction has been included (prep time included).

This flexibility has proven very effective and greatly reduced the number of attorneys needing an extension to earn the required hours.

PROCESS

1	2	3	4	5	6
Find a training event	Self-test and Attestation	If it passes the test, it counts.	60 mins = 1 CLE hour	Record on CLE Form	Form due by January 31

REQUIREMENTS

Training	1st Year	2nd Year	3^rd Year+
Radar Training	1 hour
Crimes Against Children Training	8 hours		1 hour
Other (depends on Child Crimes hours in Years 1 and 2)	11+ hours	12+ hours	19 hours
TOTAL	20 hours	20 hours	20 hours
No hours required when county attorney or deputy county attorney assumes office after July 1 of that year.

TRAINING LIBRARY

Radar – 1 hour - Requires NCJIS Certificate to Access

Radar - 1 hour - YouTube Link

If taken, counting this training toward required CLE hours is subject to the 5-hour limit on asynchronous learning.

FORM LIBRARY

Form	When Needed
CLE Form Years 1 and 2	Recording and submitting hours for Years 1 and 2 as a county attorney or deputy county attorney.
2023 CLE Form Year 3 and After	Recording and submitting hours for Year 3 and after as a county attorney or deputy county attorney.
Instructional CLE Hours Calculation Tool	Helps calculate instructional hours eligible for CLE credit.
Extension Request Form	Request an extension for obtaining required CLE hours.

RESOURCE LIBRARY

Information Sheets

Statutes

23-1212 - Terms, defined.

23-1213 - Nebraska County Attorney Standards Advisory Council; created; members; qualifications; appointment; terms; vacancy.

23-1214 - Council; membership; holding other office or position; effect.

23-1215 - Council; members; expenses.

23-1216 - Council; continuing legal education; duties.

23-1217 - County attorney; deputy county attorney; continuing legal education required; failure to complete; effect.

23-1218 - Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice; continuing legal education; duties; enumerated.

23-1219 - County attorney; deputy county attorney; failure to fulfill continuing legal education requirements; commission; investigate; duties.

23-1220 - County attorney; deputy county attorney; failure to complete continuing legal education; Attorney General; commence civil action.

23-1221 - County attorney; deputy county attorney; removal from office; vacancy; how filled.

23-1222 - Continuing education; tuition, fees, expenses; how paid.

Rules and Regulations

NAC Title 78, Chapter 6