Your name is in a file at the Douglas County Courthouse right now.
It has been there since last December. And one day, out of nowhere, you get a piece of mail. You have been summoned. You are going to sit in judgment of another human being.
That file was built by the Clerk of the District Court. That summons comes from the Clerk of the District Court. The person who determines whether you are qualified to serve, whether your name stays on the list, and whether your panel is legally valid. That is the Clerk of the District Court.
Most voters have never thought about this. Most candidates running for this office have never thought about this either.
Justin Wayne has thought about it for six years.
The Clerk and the Jury Commissioner Are the Same Person
This surprises almost everyone. Nebraska law is explicit. The Clerk of the District Court is the Jury Commissioner. Not a separate office. Not a separate appointment. The same person. Built directly into the job by the Nebraska Legislature. See Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1647
In Douglas County, because the county exceeds 175,000 inhabitants, the scope of this responsibility is enormous. The Clerk manages the jury pool for every civil case, every criminal case, and every grand jury proceeding in the entire district. Every single one.
The Clerk may appoint a deputy jury commissioner from regular office staff, subject to approval by the district court judges. But the legal responsibility never leaves the Clerk’s desk. See Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1648
Your Name in That File: How It Got There
Every December, the Clerk builds the master jury list for the coming year. Here is exactly how your name ends up on it — or doesn’t.
Step 1: The Source List
The Clerk pulls combined records from the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles and Douglas County voter registration rolls. Every person 19 or older in Douglas County. Names, dates of birth, addresses, license numbers. All of it. See Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1654
Step 2: The Key Number Drawing
In the presence of a judge, the Clerk draws a number by chance. Starting with the name at that number, the Clerk selects every tenth name down the list. That is your jury pool for the entire year. In a county as large as Douglas County, multiple key numbers may be drawn to ensure enough names. See Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1653
Step 3: Certification
The Clerk certifies in writing that every step complied with the Nebraska Jury Selection Act and records the exact manner, date, and hour of the drawing on the official court record.
This process has to be right. Because if it isn’t, if the Clerk cuts corners, skips steps, or fails to document properly, every jury selected from that list is potentially invalid. Every verdict is potentially vulnerable. Every case tried that year could be challenged.
That is what is at stake when you vote for Clerk of the District Court.
From Your Mailbox to the Courtroom: How Summoning Works
When a judge needs a jury, the Clerk draws names from the master list. Nebraska uses two systems:
The Two-Step System: Qualification forms go out first. If you qualify and are later drawn, a formal summons follows, at least 10 days before you must appear.
The One-Step System: Qualification form and summons arrive together.
The Clerk reviews every form that comes back. Names that don’t meet statutory qualifications get struck, and the Clerk maintains a record of every name struck, available for inspection by the court and by attorneys. The Clerk then qualifies 30 jurors, or whatever number a judge directs, for each judge sitting with a jury. See Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1655 and Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1660.
When a panel proves inadequate, not enough jurors, or a high-profile case where the regular panel can’t produce impartial jurors, the Clerk draws additional jurors on the spot. For special criminal felony cases, the judges may direct the Clerk to draw an entirely new special panel. See Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1664 and Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1665
Grand Juries: Bigger Stakes, Higher Consequences
Everything above describes how a trial jury, called a petit jury, is selected. A petit jury decides guilt or innocence at trial. Twelve people. Evidence. A verdict.
A grand jury is different. A grand jury decides something that comes before any of that.
A grand jury determines whether there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime in the first place. Grand juries meet in secret. They hear only from prosecutors. They do not decide guilt. They decide whether a case moves forward at all. They are one of the oldest and most powerful accountability tools in the American legal system.
And the Clerk of the District Court manages the entire process.
After building the master key list, the Clerk draws potential grand jurors as directed by the judges. By chance, 40 names are drawn, or another number as directed. The Clerk prepares a formal list of every qualified person. That list goes to a three-member board: the Clerk, the presiding district judge, and one other designee. The board selects 16 grand jurors and 3 alternates. See Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1668 and Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1669
Justin Wayne represented James Scurlock, who was gunned down here in Omaha. In Nebraska, a grand jury can be formed by citizen petition under Nebraska Revised Statute § 29-1401. It was his research on this statute, and the relentless pressure of a community demanding answers, that compelled Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine to bring in a special prosecutor and ultimately call a grand jury.
That case changed him. It showed him firsthand exactly how much the Clerk of the District Court matters when a community is in pain and demanding accountability. Justin has been studying this office, its statutes, its case law, its duties, and its responsibilities, ever since. What you are reading in this Deep Dive series is not something he learned when he decided to run for Clerk of the District Court.
He has been living it for years.
When Someone Dies in Law Enforcement Custody: The Clock Starts Ticking
This is the part of this job that most candidates for Clerk have never read. Most voters have never heard of it. But in Douglas County, right now, it could not be more relevant.
Nebraska law requires this: when a coroner certifies that a death occurred during law enforcement custody, a grand jury must be impaneled. Mandatory. No exceptions unless the court finds compelling reasons to extend. See Nebraska Revised Statute § 29-1401
The moment that coroner’s certification is filed, the Clerk’s clock starts. The Clerk must draw the pool. The Clerk must manage the selection. The Clerk must get it right. On time. By the book. Without error.
This is not a hypothetical. This is the law. And it exists for a reason, because when someone dies in the custody of the government, the community deserves accountability. The grand jury is how that accountability happens. And the Clerk is the person who makes it possible.
The Clerk of the District Court is not a back-office administrator. In moments like this, the Clerk is the hinge point between tragedy and justice.
The Consequences of Getting It Wrong Are Severe
Jury selection records are strictly confidential. Unlawful disclosure is not a civil violation. It is not a reprimand. It is a Class IV felony under Nebraska law. See Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1673.
Failing to perform jury commissioner duties is not just a mistake. It is contempt of court — punishable by the district court judges the Clerk works alongside every single day. See Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-1675.
Nebraska’s jury selection system has been challenged repeatedly and upheld every time. In State v. Garza (241 Neb. 934, 1992), the Nebraska Supreme Court called it “difficult to conceive of a fairer” method of jury selection. In State v. Sanders (269 Neb. 895, 2005), it was upheld again as constitutionally valid and racially neutral. Most recently — in State v. Sutton (319 Neb. 581, 2025), decided just last year, the current Douglas County Clerk testified about the jury selection process before the Nebraska Supreme Court. The system was upheld once again.
The system works. But only when the Clerk runs it correctly. Every December. Every panel. Every grand jury. Every time.
Why Justin Wayne Is the Only Candidate Fully Prepared for This Responsibility
Justin Wayne did not learn about jury selection law by reading a job description. He learned it in the Nebraska Legislature, as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he helped shape the very statutes that govern every jury pool in Douglas County. He learned it in Douglas County courtrooms, as a practicing attorney for more than 20 years, where he has selected juries, challenged jury pools, and seen firsthand what happens when this process works and when it doesn’t.
He knows what Nebraska Revised Statute § 29-1401 requires. He knows what a coroner’s certification triggers. He knows that when Douglas County is in pain, when law enforcement and the community are both asking hard questions, the Clerk’s office has a mandatory legal obligation.
The right Clerk does not flinch in that moment. The right Clerk does not learn on the job. The right Clerk already knows exactly what to do and does it.
That is Justin Wayne.
This is Deep Dive 1 of the Front Door of Justice education series. A new deep dive publishes every two days through May 7th. Follow along at Wayne4NE.com.
Democratic Primary — Tuesday, May 12, 2026 | Wayne4NE.com | Paid for by Wayne for District Clerk
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