Lincoln -- Douglas County District Court Judge J. Patrick Mullen is retiring effective June 1, 2012  after 36 years of service to the State of Nebraska, with 26 of those years on the Douglas County  District Court bench.

In his resignation letter to the Governor he noted, “It is and has been my privilege to serve in this  (judicial) capacity for the last 26 years, and I wish to express my gratitude through you to the  citizens of this State.”

Prior to taking the district court bench in 1985, Judge Mullen worked as Associate Juvenile Court  Judge from 1976 to 1985. During his tenure on the bench, Judge Mullen served on several  volunteer committees including the Nebraska District Court Judges Association where he held  the position of the association president from 1999 to 2000. He also served on the Nebraska  State Bar Association’s Judiciary Committee from 1993 to 2000 and chaired the committee in  1994 and 1995.  

The first step in replacing Judge Mullen will be for the Judicial Resources Commission to call a  meeting to determine whether or not, based on judicial workload statistics, the retirement of  Judge Mullen creates a vacancy in the Fourth Judicial District (Douglas County District Court).

Journalists:

For a .JPG of Judge Mullen’s mug shot, email me at janet.bancroft@nebraska.gov

Resources Commission Information: http://www.supremecourt.ne.gov/commissions/jrc.shtml

Additional information on replacing a judge in Nebraska can be found: http://supremecourt.ne.gov/press/pdf/replacing-judge.pdf