Box Butte County Public Defender Enet Somers-Dehaney is facing a recall attempt.
Chief circulator Brent Hansen of Alliance filed a petition with County Clerk Martie Burke last Wednesday that accuses Somers-Dehaney of incompetence.
Hansen would need to collect signatures from 961 voters registered in Box Butte County to force a recall election. That’s 35% of the total votes Somers-Dehaney received in last year’s election.
Somers-Dehaney, who is scheduled for trial in Box Butte County District Court a week from Thursday on 5 counts of contempt of court, has not yet said if she will fight the recall petition or resign.
She was appointed public defender by the county commissioners in December 2021 as the successor to Jon Worthman, who’d gone on leave in January 2020 after being arrested on felony drug charges. Worthman was eventually convicted.
Hansen’s recall petitions says Somers-Dehaney has “shown her incompetence as an attorney numerous times throughout her time in office. This incompetence has caused her to lose most of her caseload.”
The petition also says her incompetence has resulted in the county frequently having to hire outside attorneys, and that paying both outside counsel and Somers-Dehaney has caused “a depletion of County funds.”
Box Butte County Clerk of the District Court Kevin Horn says court-appointed defenders have been paid over $20,000 so far this year. The amount paid for cases in county court is not available.
If Somers-Dehaney chooses to fight the recall effort, the recall petitions being circulated would include both Hansen’s accusations and her defense.
Hansen would have 30 days to gather signatures and turn in the petitions to Burke, who would have 15 days to verify signatures. If enough are valid, the county commissioners would schedule a special election at county expense.