Lawyers responding to the Nebraska State Bar Association evaluation poll gave passing grades to 97% of the state's judges and recommended all but two be retained.
Association President Judge Tricia Freeman said the Judicial Performance Evaluation, which is done every two years, provides an important way for practicing attorneys to give feedback to the judiciary.
She said it also helps 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 Nebraska State Bar Association released the results of its biennial poll of members about the state's judges, giving high marks to most.
This year, lawyers gave more than half ofÌýthe judges a 90% or higher retention approval rating and gave roughly a third 80% to 89% ratings.
Five judges had below 60% retention ratings, including Douglas County Court Judge Darryl Lowe, who had the lowest rating of county court judges at 47.8%, and Lancaster County District Judge Lori Maret, who had the lowest rating among the state's district court judges at 34.9%.
The two were the only judges to have retention ratings below 50%.
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Roughly 19% of active State Bar Association members who live in Nebraska, Council Bluffs and Sioux City, Iowa, and Yankton, South Dakota, completed the survey.
The state association first used the JudicialÌýPerformance Evaluation in 1984.
In the 3rd Judicial District, which is Lancaster County, lawyers gave the following retention approval ratings for district judges: Matthew Mellor (95.1%),ÌýRyan Post (93.8%),ÌýKevin McManaman (92.7%), Susan Strong (92.3%), Andrew Jacobsen (91.7%), Jodi Nelson (87.8%), Darla Ideus (81.4%) and Maret (34.9%).
Lawyers gave the following retention approval ratings for Lancaster County Court judges: Laurie Yardley (96.4%), Matthew Acton (90.9%),ÌýHolly Parsley (90.4%), Timothy Phillips (89.8%), Thomas Zimmerman (89.5%),ÌýRodney Reuter (86%) andÌýJoseph Dalton (71.7%).
Five of Lancaster County's judges will be up for retention votes on the ballot in November. They are County Court judges Parsley andÌýZimmerman and District Court Judges Maret, Post and Strong.
So, too, will be Nebraska Supreme Court Justice Stephanie Stacy.
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