A position open since January may be one step closer to being filled as the Box Butte County Commissioners are expected to meet with a candidate for Box Butte County Public Defender.
The special meeting is set to take place on Sept. 24, with the only agenda item listed as, “Meet with public defender candidate.”
The position has been open since Box Butte County Public Defender Joel Burke submitted his resignation on Jan. 11. Burke interviewed for the position in June 2020, accepting the position after the meeting. He took over as Box Butte County Public Defender on July 1, 2020. Burke’s predecessor, Darin Nepper began as the Interim Box Butte County Public Defender on Feb. 29, 2020, and resigned on March 4, 2020, announcing that he had accepted another position. From that time, the county relied on several law firms to serve in the position while searching for a new public defender.
The position was originally occupied by Jon Worthman, who was placed on leave in Jan. 2020 after being arrested for possession of cocaine with intent to deliver. Worthman was allowed to delay his formal resignation to allow him to maintain his health insurance. The Box Butte County Commissioners accepted Worthman’s resignation in May of 2020.