The Nebraska State Bar Association has released results of its 2026 Judicial Performance Evaluation, including evaluations of judges in Lincoln County.

The poll consists of a series of 20 questions about impartiality, clarity of communications, temperament, administrative capacity and overall competence. In all, 1,025 lawyers responded to the questions.

The poll/survey also asked if each of the 132 judges should be retained in office.

Former Lincoln County District Judge Michael Piccolo, who recently took a seat on the Nebraska Appeals Court bench, received some of the highest marks — a 100% retention approval.

On the other end of the spectrum, 61.5% of the respondents said Lincoln County District Judge Cindy Volkmer should not be retained, while 38.5% said she should.

A judge must run for retention in office in the first general election that occurs more than three years after his or her appointment, and every six years thereafter. When a judge runs for retention in office, the question presented on the voters’ ballots states: “Shall Judge ___________ be retained in office?”

If there are more votes to retain a judge than to remove him or her, then the judge remains on the bench for an additional six (6) years.

Lawyers responding to the poll recommend that 98% of the 132 judges evaluated be retained on the bench. Fifty-six percent of the judges evaluated were given a 90% or higher retention approval. Only 5% of the judges received less than a 70% retention recommendation.

The ratings

Piccolo ranked high in overall competence, scoring 5.8 points out of a maximum of 6 points. In contrast, Volkmer’s average competence score was 3.5.

Volkmer will stand for re-election in November. Piccolo will not; he was re-elected in 2024.

Another Lincoln County District Judge is up for election in November — Patrick Heng — who was appointed in 2021, Heng scored well on the evaluation — consistently between 5 – 5.5 on the six-point scale in all categories. His competency scores were 5.1 – 5.3.

More than 90% of the responding lawyers recommended that Heng be retained in office.

Lincoln County court

Lincoln County Court Judges Tanya Roberts-Connick and Kortnei Smith were also evaluated with the same criteria.

Roberts-Connick scored from 5.0 – 5.1 in overall competence. Smith scored from 4.9 – 5.2. Smith’s low score of 4.9 was in regard to her demonstration of a thorough understanding of relevant substantive law.

Roberts-Connick had some 4.9 scores in other categories — treating participants with dignity, respect and fairness; impartiality; managing the docket; moving cases along and issuing decisions in a timely manner (4.6.)

The respondents said Smith and Roberts-Connick should be retained in office — 96% recommended Smith and 88.5% recommended Roberts-Connick.

More about the evaluation

The evaluation occurs every two years. The 2026 evaluation is the 22nd in the series.

The purpose is two-fold:

• Provide each judge with a continuing assessment of his or her strengths and weaknesses, thereby improving the overall quality of the judiciary.
• Help the public better understand Nebraska’s merit system for the selection and retention of judges by providing information useful in making an informed decision about judges standing for retention.

The evaluation was disseminated in April to active licensed lawyers residing in Nebraska, Council Bluffs and Sioux City, Iowa and Yankton, South Dakota. Attorneys were instructed to evaluate only judges with whom they had recent, first-hand professional experience; or in the case of appeals court judges, with whose written opinions they were familiar.

Judicial members are ineligible to participate and did not receive the poll. Unless requested, judges with less than one year’s tenure on the bench were not evaluated.

The American Bar Association Center for Bar Leadership, based in Chicago, compiled the results.

The full report is available Here.

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