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Assessors Workshop
August 25-28, 2014
Kearney, Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center
Panhandle District Meeting
September 10, 2014
Gering, Civic Center
West Central District Meeting
September 11, 2014
Ogallala, Quality Inn & Suites
Central District Meeting
September 18, 2014
Grand Island, Quality Inn & Suites
Northeast District Meeting
September 19, 2014
Schuyler, St. Benedict Center
To view all upcoming events, click here.
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 Associate and Sustaining Members
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NACO Associate and Sustaining Members enable NACO to enhance its continuing education programs for county officials across the state. Visit NACO's complete associate and sustaining membership list here.
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Education Foundation Memorial Program | |
A gift to NACO's Education Foundation ensures that the children of county officials and county employees are eligible to apply for scholarships to continue their education at Nebraska's higher learning institutions. Whatever their passion - history, art, music, science, education, sports - the NACO Education Foundation will provide them an opportunity to fund their education beyond the K-12 level. Memorial gifts to NACO's Education Foundation are tax deductible and will be a lasting legacy in honor of your loved one's commitment to educating the children of Nebraska's county officials and employees. For more information about how to make a memorial gift, please contact Larry Dix / 402-434-5660 ext. 226. |
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Register Now for Assessors Workshop
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The Nebraska Assessors Association Board of Directors met in May to plan the annual Assessors Workshop. The workshop will be held in Kearney at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Convention Center. The Workshop will begin at 1:00 p.m. (CST) on Monday, August 25 and will conclude at 10:30 p.m. (CST) on Thursday, August 28, 2014. A tentative agenda for the workshop will be posted on NACO's website in the near future.
Advance registration can now be made on-line at NACO's website or by clicking here. The fee for attending the workshop will be $100.00 for registrations received on or before August 15. After August 1, a late registration fee of $125.00 will be added. Cancellations must be made in writing on or before August 15 to receive a full refund. A cancellation fee of $25.00 will be assessed for any cancellations received after August 15.
Guest rooms may be reserved by contacting the Holiday Inn Hotel and Convention Center at (308) 237-5971. Room rates are $79.95 single/double. When making reservations, inform hotel staff that you are attending the Assessors Workshop to receive the contracted rate. Assessors are reminded that the 2014 annual dues for the County Assessors Association of Nebraska should be mailed to the association treasurer, Janet Shaul, Garden County Assessor. Registration fees for the the workshop should be mailed directly to NACO at their new address: 1335 "H" Street, Lincoln, NE 68508. |
Conference Matters
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Lodging
Lodging for NACO's 120th Annual Conference became available in June, 2014. The conference will be held in Omaha December 10-12 and this year you will be able to make lodging reservations electronically by visiting the Omaha Convention & Visitors Bureau website and clicking on NACO's microsite. The link to the microsite is available here and is also posted on NACO's website. Once you click on NACO's microsite, you will be able to choose the contracted hotel of your choice along with the dates you will require for lodging. Initially, a valid credit card will be required for securing your lodging. Once you have secured your lodging via credit card, you will be able to access a credit application for direct billing and will be required to complete and submit a tax exempt form (all forms will be available on the microsite).
Planning
NACO has sent, via e-mail, planning grids and cut off dates to each affiliate group leader requesting that each group plan their sessions for the upcoming Annual Conference in December. If you have a topic that you would like to have addressed at the conference, please contact your affiliate group president so they may consider it for the agenda.
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Saline County Board Unveils Conceptual Plan for Courthouse Addition
| June 17, 2014 - Wilber, Nebraska - The Saline County Commissioners today revealed a proposed design for a $4.1 million addition to the historic Saline County Courthouse. The new Addition will satisfy modern requirements for safety, security, and accessibility while maintaining the integrity of the building's original architecture.
The schematic design for the addition, unanimously approved at the board's May 26th meeting, meets the needs determined by county officials last year. These include the installation of an elevator to provide access to all floors of the building, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); the installation of a second staircase and fire exit to comply with current Fire and Safety Codes; improvements for public security; and the construction of new, ADA-compliant public restrooms. To read more, click here. |
Advanced Institute of Excellence to be Held in Kearney
| Today's leaders rely on stakeholders to help them make the hard decisions.
They also use after-action reviews to evaluate outcomes of their decisions.
These concepts and more will be introduced at the NACO Advanced Institute of Excellence, Wednesday, October 15th in Kearney at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. The Advanced Institute is open to ALL NACO Institutes of Excellence graduates and will be conveniently held the day before the 9th Annual NACO Legislative Conference. The program starts at 10:00 a.m. and runs to 5. The cost is only $45 for the entire day; lunch is included. For more information about this fall's Advanced Institute and future Institutes of Excellence download a .pdf version of the 2014 - 2015 Program Offerings brochure by clicking here.
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Legal Line
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Editor's Note: Legal Line is a feature that will periodically appear in NACO E-Line. This edition has been prepared by Elaine Menzel of the NACO legal staff. Legal Line is not intended to serve as legal advice. Rather, it is published to alert readers to court decisions and legal or advisory matters important to county government. For a specific opinion on how the information contained in this article or that which will be discussed in future issues relates to your county, consult your county attorney or personal counsel.
US Supreme Court Rules on Several Major Issues in Last Days of Its 2013 Term
In Harris v. Quinn, --- U.S. --- (2014), the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that under the First Amendment the collection of an agency fee is prohibited from home-care workers in Illinois who do not wish to join or support the union. The Court stated, "If we accepted Illinois' argument, we would approve an unprecedented violation of the bedrock principle that, except perhaps in the rarest of circumstances, no person in this country may be compelled to subsidize speech by a third party that he or she does not wish to support. For the text of the full opinion, click here.
In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., -- U.S. --- (2014), the Supreme Court decided a case involving the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) that prohibits the "Government [from] substantially burden[ing] a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability" unless the Government "demonstrates that application of the burden to the person-(1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest." 42 U. S. C. §§2000bb-1(a), (b). As amended by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), RFRA covers "any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief."
The primary issue related to regulations promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), that in part requires specified employers' group health plans to furnish "preventative care and screenings" for women without "any cost sharing requirements".
The Court held the regulations imposing an obligation for health-insurance coverage of methods of contraception that violate the sincerely held religious beliefs of the companies' owners violate RFRA. The Federal Government is prevented from taking any action that substantially burdens the exercise of religion unless that action constitutes the least restrictive means of serving a compelling government interest. The Court determined that the HHS regulations substantially burdened the exercise of religion of the business in the case. For the text of the full opinion, click here.
In McCullen v. Coakley, --- U.S. --- (2014), the court considered a State's enforcement of a demonstration-related statute that the petitioners asserted violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments by requiring a buffer zone of 35 feet between abortion clinics and a "public way or sidewalk." The Court held the State's Act violates the First Amendment although the Act is content neutral, it is not "narrowly tailored". The Act is not "narrowly tailored because it "burden[s] substantially more speech than is necessary to further the government's legitimate interests." For the text of the full opinion, click here.
In Riley v. California, --- U.S. --- (2014), the Court weighed the merits of an officer accessing information on the cellphone ("smart phone") of an individual who was arrested for weapons charges. Additionally, it combined a second case of an individual arrested with a "flip phone". The Court held that the police generally may not, without a warrant, search digital information on an arrested individual.
As stated by the Court, "The Fourth Amendment provides: 'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'"
Further stated by the Court was the following:
Digital data stored on a cell phone cannot itself be used as a weapon to harm an arresting officer or to effectuate the arrestee's escape. Law enforcement officers remain free to examine the physical aspects of a phone to ensure that it will not be used as a weapon-say, to determine whether there is a razor blade hidden between the phone and its case. Once an officer has secured a phone and eliminated any potential physical threats, however, data on the phone can endanger no one.
The Court's answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cell phone seized incident to an arrest is - "get a warrant." For the text of the full opinion, click here.
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Order NACO's 2014 Directory of County Officials Now
| NACO's 2014 Directory of County Officials is a valuable resource that not only gives you names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses of every county official in the state, but includes a listing of county board meeting days, NACO districts, county seats, NACO officers and directors, affiliate officers and NACO staff. County clerks for each county will receive one complimentary copy of the directory intended for use by all offices in their courthouse. For additional copies, click here for the order form.
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County Government Day PowerPoint
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The PowerPoint presentation is available electronically at no charge (sent via e-mail) for use by counties during their annual County Government Day. The PowerPoint provides a comprehensive look at county government functions in the State of Nebraska and can be customized by each county. CD's are also available for $10.00 each to cover processing, shipping and handling. To request the County Government Day PowerPoint electronically, please e-mail your request to larrydix@nacone.org. The CD order form is available here. |
2013 County Board Handbook and Revisions
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The 2013 County Board Handbook and related revisions are available. The cost for a current handbook, including legislative information from the 2013 session, is $80.00/book plus $17.00 shipping and handling per book. The 2013 Supplement to the County Board Handbook is available for $20.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. The order form is available on the NACO website here. For questions, contact Ashley Vandeloo by clicking here or call her at (402) 434-5660 ext. 223. |
News From NACo
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Senate Gives Big OK to Workforce LegislationOn June 25, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed workforce reauthorization legislation, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (H.R. 803, as amended) by a 95 to 3 vote. Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) were the only three votes against passage. Sens. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) did not vote. The Senate also rejected Sen. Jeff Flake's (R-Ariz.) Amendment 3379 that would have given governors the authority to sanction local workforce boards after one year of poor performance. To read more, click here.
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NACo Web-Based Education
| State and Local Legal Center: Supreme Court Review CLE Webinar
Friday, July 18, 2014, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Eastern Time
Join Carter Phillips, Sidley Austin, who has argued more Supreme Court cases than any other layer currently in Private Practice, Collin O'Connor Udell, Jackson Lewis, who argued a public employment case before the Supreme Court this term, and Adam Lliptak, The New York Times Supreme Court correspondent, in a discussion of the most significant cases decided this term affecting state and local government. Cases to be discussed include, among others, Michigan's affirmative action ban, warrantless searches of cell phones, speech "buffer-zones," and two Clean Air act cases.
To register, click here.
To view NACo's entire web-based education listing, click here. |
News Across the State
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