Worthman Voluntarily Surrenders Law License

On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court accepted Jon Worthman’s voluntary resignation of his law license, and ordered him disbarred from practicing law in the State of Nebraska.

Worthman, who served as the Box Butte County Public Defender, was arrested in January after an incident on Jan. 7 in which Worthman purchased one ounce of cocaine from an informant, according to court records. Worthman also admitted to accepting cocaine in exchange for legal services.

He was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, a class 1D felony, in Scotts Bluff County.

Worthman was placed on leave from the position of Box Butte County Public Defender in January, and was allowed to delay his official resignation until July 31 so that he could maintain his health insurance benefits from the county.

On May 12, Worthman officially resigned from the position of Box Butte County Public Defender, and the Box Butte County Commissioners hired Joel Burke, of Imperial, to serve the remainder of Worthman’s term.

According to records from the Supreme Court, Worthman was admitted to practicing law in September 1994. Worthman filed the voluntary surrender of his license to practice law on June 12, waiving his right to a hearing before the entry of an order of disbarment and agreeing to comply immediately with the order.

The Alliance Times-Herald attempted to contact Mark Weber with the Counsel for Discipline in regard to the case, but he failed to respond before press time.