Platte County judge to retire in April

COLUMBUS, Neb. -- A judge in Platte County is stepping down next month.

Judge of the Platte County Court, Frank J. Skorupa, is retiring effective April 30, 2022. Skorupa served as County Court Judge for the 5th Judicial District in Columbus, Nebraska for 28 years.

In his announcement letter to the governor, Skorupa noted, “Since my appointment to the bench by Governor Ben Nelson, it has been a privilege to have served the citizens of the great State of Nebraska for twenty-eight years, but the time has come to step aside. I am most thankful for my wonderful, hardworking court staff, present and past… I will miss them greatly.”

Skorupa serves on the Nebraska County Judges Association Judicial Education and Legislation subcommittees. During his service on the Bench Book committee, he originated a step-by-step adoption procedure for his fellow county court judges.

After taking the bench in 1994, Skorupa has been regularly retained in his judicial position by area voters, most recently in 2016.

The first step in replacing Skorupa will be for the Judicial Resources Commission to call a meeting to determine whether or not, based on judicial workload statistics, his retirement creates a judicial vacancy on the county court for the 5thJudicial District.