Case: United States of America v. Colfax County, Nebraska

8:12-cv-00084 | U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska

Filed Date: Feb. 27, 2012

Closed Date: March 30, 2015

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Case Summary

This case is about violations of the minority language requirements of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act. On February 27, 2012, the Attorney General's office, on behalf of the United States, filed this lawsuit in the United States District of the District of Nebraska. Plaintiff sued the County of Colfax, Nebraska under 42 U.S.C. §1973aa-1a, and sought an injunction requiring the County to develop and implement a remedial program to ensure adherence to the minority language requirements of Se…

In the complaint, plaintiff noted that the 2000 census data showed Colfax County had a significant Spanish speaking population, which grew in the years after that data was collected. Plaintiff alleged that Colfax County failed to properly provide election related material and information in Spanish, failed to translate the material into Spanish, and failed to have a Spanish speaking poll official on site during elections despite the high Spanish speaking population percentage. Plaintiff sought a three judge panel in the complaint. The day the complaint was filed, the parties also filed a joint motion for settlement and entry of a proposed consent decree.

On February 29, 2012 District Judge William Jay Riley designated himself, District Judge Richard G. Kopf, and District Judge John M. Gerrard as the presiding panel members. On March 2, 2012, the Court adopted the terms of the proposed consent decree. The consent decree required the County to implement a remedial plan with the following components:

Defendants were required to translate and disseminate all election-related material and information in the Spanish language.
Defendants had to provide Spanish language assistance at all locations where election-related transactions were conducted.
Defendants had to train all polling officers on the requirements of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act.
Defendants had to expeditiously and thoroughly investigate all voter complaints and provide an investigation report to the federal government within 30 days.
Defendants had to hire an individual to coordinate the County's Spanish language election program.
The county was required to establish an Advisory Group to assist and inform the Spanish language election program.
The County had to allow appointed federal observers to monitor and assist with compliance.
Defendants had to evaluate the Spanish language election program after each election.

Under the consent decree, each party bore its own fees and costs. The Court would retain jurisdiction until March 30, 2015 for enforcement purposes. The case was closed in accordance with the Consent Decree on March 30, 2015.

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Summary Authors

Paul Haley (10/24/2023)

People

For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5760949/parties/united-states-v-colfax-county-nebraska/

Judge(s)

Gerrard, John Melvin (Nebraska)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Donovan, Sarabeth (Nebraska)

Herren, T. Christian (Nebraska)

Michel, Olimpia E. (Nebraska)

Miller, Angela J. (Nebraska)

Attorney for Defendant

Judge(s)

Gerrard, John Melvin (Nebraska)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Donovan, Sarabeth (Nebraska)

Herren, T. Christian (Nebraska)

Michel, Olimpia E. (Nebraska)

Miller, Angela J. (Nebraska)

Wertz, Rebecca J. (Nebraska)

Attorney for Defendant

Wallace-Kracl, Denise J. (Nebraska)

Attorney Contact Information via CourtListener

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
2 8:12-cv-00084	Joint Motion for Entry of Consent Decree, Judgment and Order	Feb. 27, 2012	Feb. 27, 2012 Pleading / Motion / Brief
1 8:12-cv-00084	Complaint	Feb. 27, 2012	Feb. 27, 2012 Complaint
8 8:12-cv-00084	Order and Request for Three-Judge Panel	Feb. 28, 2012	Feb. 28, 2012 Order/Opinion
11 8:12-cv-00084	Order of Designation	Feb. 29, 2012	Feb. 29, 2012 Order/Opinion
12 8:12-cv-00084	Consent Order	March 2, 2012	March 2, 2012 Order/Opinion

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Docket

See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5760949/united-states-v-colfax-county-nebraska/

Last updated Aug. 10, 2025, 9:26 p.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	COMPLAINT against Colfax County, Nebraska, by Attorney Sarabeth Donovan on behalf of United States(Donovan, Sarabeth) (Entered: 02/27/2012)	Feb. 27, 2012	Feb. 27, 2012 Clearinghouse
2	Joint MOTION for Settlement and Entry of Proposed Consent Decree, Judgment and Order by Attorney Sarabeth Donovan on behalf of Plaintiff United States. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Donovan, Sarabeth) (Entered: 02/27/2012) 1 Text of Proposed Order View on PACER	Feb. 27, 2012	Feb. 27, 2012 Clearinghouse
3	Unopposed MOTION for Three Judge Panel by Attorney Sarabeth Donovan on behalf of Plaintiff United States of America.(Donovan, Sarabeth) (Entered: 02/27/2012)	Feb. 27, 2012	Feb. 27, 2012 PACER
4	TEXT NOTICE OF JUDGES ASSIGNED: Judge John M. Gerrard and Magistrate Judge Cheryl R. Zwart assigned. (TEL) (Entered: 02/28/2012)	Feb. 28, 2012	Feb. 28, 2012 PACER
5	TEXT NOTICE REGARDING PROPOSED ORDER 2 by Deputy Clerk. Pursuant to NECivR 7.0.2, a moving party shall submit a proposed order to the judge. Electronically submitted proposed orders may not be combined with the motion into one document. The proposed order should be e-mailed in a word-processing format to the assigned judge. This notice is for your information for future filings. (TEL) (Entered: 02/28/2012)	Feb. 28, 2012	Feb. 28, 2012 PACER
6	ATTORNEY LETTER by Clerk that Attorney T. Christian Herren, Jr. has not registered for admittance to practice or registered for the system. If the requested action is not taken within fifteen (15) days of the date of this letter, this matter will be referred to the assigned magistrate judge for the entry of a show cause order. (JSF) (Entered: 02/28/2012)	Feb. 28, 2012	Feb. 28, 2012 PACER
7	ATTORNEY LETTER by Clerk that Attorney Rebecca J. Wertz has not registered for admittance to practice or registered for the system. If the requested action is not taken within fifteen (15) days of the date of this letter, this matter will be referred to the assigned magistrate judge for the entry of a show cause order. (JSF) (Entered: 02/28/2012)	Feb. 28, 2012	Feb. 28, 2012 PACER
8	ORDER AND REQUEST FOR THREE-JUDGE PANEL. This Court notifies the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, the Honorable William J. Riley, of Plaintiff's Application for Designation of a Three-Judge Court 3 ; and the Court requests Chief Judge Riley to designate two other judges and to convene a court of three judges to hear and determine the Joint Motion for Entry of Consent Decree, Judgment and Order 2 . Ordered by Judge John M. Gerrard. (JSF) (Entered: 02/28/2012)	Feb. 28, 2012	Feb. 28, 2012 Clearinghouse
9	APPLICATION/ORDER admitting for full-time admission Attorney Rebecca J. Wertz for Plaintiff United States of America. Ordered by Deputy Clerk. (ADB, ) (Entered: 03/01/2012)	Feb. 29, 2012	Feb. 29, 2012 PACER
10	APPLICATION/ORDER admitting for full-time admission Attorney T. Christian Herren, Jr for Plaintiff United States of America. Ordered by Deputy Clerk. (ADB, ) (Entered: 03/01/2012)	Feb. 29, 2012	Feb. 29, 2012 PACER
11	ORDER OF DESIGNATION that pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 2284, I designate myself, and the Honorable Richard G. Kopf, United States District Judge for the District of Nebraska, to sit with the Honorable John M. Gerrard, as a three-judge panel, in consideration ofthe above-cited case.Ordered by Judge William Jay Riley. (copies provided as directed)(ADB) (Entered: 03/01/2012)	Feb. 29, 2012	Feb. 29, 2012 Clearinghouse
12	CONSENT ORDER and CONSENT DECREE granting 2 Motion for Settlement. The Court adopts the terms of the proposed consent decree,set forth below, enters the relief set forth in the decree, and incorporates its terms herein; Pursuant to Section 3(a) of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1973a(a), federal observers are authorized to attend and observe elections in Colfax County, Nebraska, during the period of this decree; The Court shall retain jurisdiction of this case, and unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the Consent Decree entered into by the parties shall terminate on March 30, 2015; and The parties shall each bear its own fees and costs. Ordered by Judge John M. Gerrard, Senior Judge Richard G. Kopf, and Chief Circuit Judge William Jay Riley. (ADB) (Entered: 03/02/2012)	March 2, 2012	March 2, 2012 Clearinghouse
13	WAIVER OF SERVICE Returned Executed upon 3/9/12 defendant Colfax County Clerk. Waiver sent on 2/27/2012. (Michel, Olimpia) (Entered: 03/14/2012)	March 14, 2012	March 14, 2012 PACER
14	WAIVER OF SERVICE Returned Executed upon 3/9/2012 defendant Colfax County Board of Commissioners. Waiver sent on 2/27/2012. (Michel, Olimpia) (Entered: 03/14/2012)	March 14, 2012	March 14, 2012 PACER
15	WAIVER OF SERVICE Returned Executed upon 3/9/2012 defendant Colfax County, Nebraska. Waiver sent on 2/27/2012. (Michel, Olimpia) (Entered: 03/14/2012)	March 14, 2012	March 14, 2012 PACER
16	APPLICATION/ORDER admitting pro hac vice Attorney Angela J. Miller for Plaintiff United States of America. Ordered by Deputy Clerk. (GJG) (Entered: 09/11/2013)	Sept. 11, 2013	Sept. 11, 2013 PACER
17	NOTICE of Filing of Federal Observer Reports for the 2012 and 2014 elections by Attorney Angela J. Miller on behalf of Plaintiff United States of America (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit May 15, 2012 Federal Observer Reports, # 2 Exhibit November 6, 2012 Federal Observer Reports, # 3 Exhibit May 13, 2014 Federal Observer Reports, # 4 Exhibit November 4, 2014 Federal Observer Reports)(Miller, Angela) (Entered: 03/30/2015)	March 30, 2015	March 30, 2015 PACER