By Alex Benzegala
Panhandle Post
An Alliance resident has filed a Recall Petition against Box Butte County Public Defender Enet Somers-Dehaney.
Brent Hansen of Alliance filed the petition on Wednesday August 23 with the Box Butte County Clerk. Hansen will serve as the Principal Circulator.
Hansen said this statement in the recall filing “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. This has resulted in Box Butte County having to hire outside counsel. Paying both Somers-Dehaney and outside counsel has caused a depletion of county funds.”
Box Butte County Clerk of the District Court Kevin Horn tells Panhandle Post that during 2023, the District Court has paid court-appointed counsel over twenty-thousand dollars in attorney fees.
Horn says additional court appointed counsel fees have been paid by the County Court, but he did not have access to the lower court records.
In a letter to Somers-Dehaney, County Clerk Martie Burke states that the petition circulators must obtain at least 35 percent of the total vote cast for Somers-Dehaney in the November, 2022 general election.
Somers-Dehaney received 2,743 votes.
In December, 2021, the Box Butte County Commissioners, approved a contract with Somers-Dehaney to fill the position that had been mostly vacant since the January, 2020 departure of Jon Worthman of Gering, who was eventually convicted of felony drug crimes.
A trial is scheduled to take place in Box Butte County District Court on September 7 concerning five accusations of Somers-Dehaney being held in contempt of court.