FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2006, 4:50 p.m. CT

(Lincoln, NE) Gov. Dave Heineman today announced his appointment of Karin Noakes of Grand Island as a district court judge for the Eighth Judicial District.

The Eighth District includes the counties of Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Custer, Garfield, Greeley, Holt, Howard, Keya Paha, Loup, Rock, Sherman, Valley, and Wheeler.

"Karin Noakes has a distinguished record as a prosecutor and private practitioner, and I am confident she will make a fine judge," Gov. Heineman said. "Her service to central and north-central Nebraska has prepared her well for this next challenge of her legal career."

Noakes, 38, has been serving as Howard County Attorney since 1999, as City Prosecutor in St. Paul since 2002, as Greeley County Attorney since 2003 and as Village Attorney for Greeley since 2004. She has also practiced law privately, served as a deputy county attorney in Hall and Platte counties and as a deputy public defender in Madison County.

Her duties have included advising elected officials on legal matters, advising planning and zoning administrators, establishing and enforcing child support obligations and filing actions to protect abused and neglected children. She also serves as chairwoman of the Howard and Greeley County Child Abuse and Treatment teams.

Noakes' volunteerism includes providing free legal services to victims of domestic violence without the financial means to afford a lawyer and serving as a former board member on the Central Nebraska Council on Alcoholism, as well as Junior Achievement.