Dodge County District Attorney nominees spoke of the integrity they would bring to the office and the importance of moving cases more efficiently through the court.
Candidates for the Dodge County Supervisory District 7 seat talked about projects including communications and drainage control.
Candidates for Fremont City Council spoke about spending control, transparency and working with city staff.
All spoke Thursday night at the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce Candidates Forum at Fremont High School. About 60 people were on hand to hear the candidates tell how they would serve the public if elected or re-elected.
Today, the Fremont Tribune focuses on comments from candidates for county attorney and county supervisor.
Next week, the Tribune will focus on comments made by seven city council candidates who participated.
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In light of issues with a former county attorney, the candidates shared their credentials and talked about the honesty and advice they would bring to the job.
A federal grand jury has charged former Dodge County prosecutor Oliver Glass with cyberstalking. Glass, who also faces a trial related to the case, denied the charges.
Pam Hopkins, who had a law practice in Fremont for 25 years and one in Blair for 11 years, spoke about honest and responsible leadership and rebuilding the reputation of the county attorney’s office, referring to the previous “unfortunate errors of judgement”.
Hopkins spoke about providing ethical leadership and effectively managing the office, and addressing the concerns of law enforcement, who have sometimes perceived they have made arrests or made referrals for prosecution that have not not followed up.
In her current practice, Hopkins serves as legal counsel for various government entities and legal counsel for several businesses and non-profit organizations.
Besides her professional responsibilities, Hopkins has been involved in volunteer work to help the homeless and prevent homelessness. She has served on the board of the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program. She has volunteered for the Nebraska Mediation Center and the Volunteer Lawyers Program.
County attorney nominee Richard Register, who practiced law in Fremont for 37 years and is a master mediator, stressed the importance of mediation, mentorship and maturity.
“Because of this lack of mentorship, we had significant issues,” Register noted.
Register said he spent more than 30 years mentoring attorneys. He spoke of the value of guiding young associate lawyers fresh out of law school to help them understand their goal of ensuring public safety.
He also said he spent more than 20 years teaching law classes at Metropolitan Community College and mediating at the Nebraska Justice Center. Register has been involved in many volunteer efforts.
Candidate Justin Bignell, a graduate of Archbishop Bergan High School in 2001, is the assistant district attorney for Dodge County.
In his remarks, Bignell talked about learning to manage stress during his two US Army combat deployments. He noted the values emphasized in the military, such as loyalty, honesty and integrity.
“Our office has been through a pretty tough time, but we’re back on track,” Bignell said. “Former County Attorney Paul Vaughan has done an incredible job of restoring that missing honor and transparency. Current County Attorney Sara Sopinski has done an incredible job.
Bignell said he thinks the office has the potential to be one of the best in the state.
Candidates for county attorney have discussed how long it currently takes to get a case through the court.
“There’s a lot of time between the arrest, the first appearance the defendant may have until the time of trial or entering a plea bargain,” Bignell said. “What this does is costing our taxpayers thousands of dollars every year.”
Bignell stressed the importance of resolving cases and moving them through the justice system more efficiently and quickly.
Hopkins spoke about delayed prosecutions, sharing the story of a young woman who was the victim of a violent crime.
“The time from when she was the victim to the arrest of the person, until he was convicted, was four years,” Hopkins said. “From her point of view, she thought it was acceptable because of the pandemic.
Hopkins finds this unacceptable.
“Nothing in the pandemic says it takes four years to prosecute anyone, other than an extremely complex murder case for example,” Hopkins said.
Register gave the example of a person who was released on bail and committed three other crimes. This happened three times.
“He (the defendant) had not been held accountable for the very first time,” Register said, stressing the crucial need to connect the wrong act to a consequence.
Register spoke about his time as a public defender in Butler County.
“We simplified the process to such an extent that offenders arrested over the weekend were sometimes sentenced the same week, eliminating delays, repeat court appearances and expense,” Register said.
Bignell spoke about the revolving door of incarceration and release for methamphetamine abusers in Dodge County.
“It’s costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars,” Bignell said, also mentioning the petty crime that accompanies such abuse.
Bignell emphasized the value of problem-solving courts, such as the current drug court, which involves intense therapy and supervision, focusing on people who would benefit from treatment rather than incarceration, treating the root cause of addiction. He said these types of programs have a 90% success rate.
Incumbent Doug Backens and challenger Susan Jacobus are vying for the seat in the Dodge County District 7 Board of Supervisors race.
Backens, a businessman who retired after 25 years as a lieutenant in the Fremont Fire Department, spoke about the importance of staying within the county budget and completing priority projects.
He spoke about the board’s work over the past four years on a radio system.
Dodge County built four new towers as part of a radio system that allows county first responders to communicate with other agencies in the Omaha Interoperable Network (ORION). The system will connect local first responders with other agencies in the network, which includes Douglas, Pottawattamie, Sarpy and Washington counties.
“We’re still trying to finish this,” Backens said. “This is going to be a huge asset to all the volunteer fire departments in small communities, police departments, everyone is going to be on board with the city of Fremont.”
Backens talked about having infrastructure in place and getting grants to continue growth in Dodge County, which includes Fremont.
Jacobus, a former member of the Fremont City Council and current certified floodplain manager, said a priority is to address flooding and drainage issues across the county.
She reminded listeners of the flooding that hit Fremont in 2019, which she said involved poor water transport and had a detrimental financial impact.
“I think if we don’t address these other things, it will become a moot point,” Jacobus said. “Ditches and overgrown creek beds have increased. The lack of drainage has guaranteed that we will have future floods.
Jacobus spoke about the council addressing the issue of having so many empty seats on several township councils in the county. She said township councils, which monitor the roads, are important.
“They monitor intermittent waterway systems, which are more than just an empty creek bed. It is also the road ditches themselves, which are intended to drain water from these roads,” she said.
Clogged ditches and waterways send water into Fremont and also damage crops, farmland and roads.
Backens and Jacobus spoke about the importance of streamlining technology in the county courthouse.
Next week: Seven candidates for Fremont City Council share their views.
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