(Picture credit Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General Mike Hilgers is looking to have the City of Lincoln pay for attorney’s fees following a fight over whether Good Government Lincoln’s charter amendments would make the November ballot.
The Lincoln Journal Star reported Monday that Hilgers’ office is looking to get the city to pay $19,000 following Lincoln’s loss before the Nebraska Supreme Court.
“As a matter of policy, the award of fees in connection with a writ makes a lot of sense--it acts to deter public officials from ignoring their legal duties. This is such a case,” Hilgers said in a statement on Twitter. “The Constitution requires charter amendments to go on the ballot. The City has followed that requirement for years in placing similarly situated amendments on the November ballot. There's no real wiggle room.”
Hilgers said he had heard “rumors” that the city had sought to move the charter amendment vote until 2027 for political reasons, rather than legal reasons.
“But-for our office suing, the City would have been able to get away with ignoring the Constitution's requirements,” he said. “It should not take a lawsuit for the City to do its duty, and it is why we made the motion to the court.”
Good Government Lincoln will have three charter amendments before voters this fall. The amendments propose to align city elections with federal and state elections, put term limits on city council members, and allow citizens of the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction to vote in city elections.
Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said prior to losing the legal battle that the city had elected to move the charter amendment vote later because they had run out of time.
Gaylor Baird argued the city had needed to hold public readings on the charter amendments that would make it miss the ballot deadline. The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled 5-2 in September against the city, declaring that the amendments must be included on the 2026 general election ballot.
The Attorney General’s Office is seeking compensation for 61 hours of work the office spent on the case.
"These requested costs and fees are modest considering fee awards in similarly complex election-related mandamus actions," Deputy Solicitor General Lincoln Korell told the Nebraska Supreme Court.
City Attorney Yohance Christie argued against the city paying the fees, saying it would deter the city from acting similarly in the future.
“To award attorney fees would discourage similarly situated public bodies acting in good faith based on a reasonable interpretation of the law on a case of first impression to seek review of their own constitutionally granted rights.”
— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.