{"id":81008,"date":"2025-04-22T12:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T20:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/04\/22\/nebraska-judge-allows-criminal-charges-to-go-forward-against-notary-public-for-voter-passed-medical-marijuana-initiatives\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T19:47:28","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:47:28","slug":"nebraska-judge-allows-criminal-charges-to-go-forward-against-notary-public-for-voter-passed-medical-marijuana-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/04\/22\/nebraska-judge-allows-criminal-charges-to-go-forward-against-notary-public-for-voter-passed-medical-marijuana-initiatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska Judge Allows Criminal Charges To Go Forward Against Notary Public For Voter-Passed Medical Marijuana Initiatives"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cA notary public is a public servant that is subject to civil penalties and criminal penalties if warranted.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Zach Wendling, Nebraska Examiner<\/strong><\/p>\n

The District Court of Hall County decided Tuesday to allow criminal charges against a notary public for \u201cofficial misconduct\u201d to proceed, overturning a lower court decision.<\/p>\n

District Judge Andrew Butler, in a 10-page opinion, reversed a previous motion to quash against 24 counts of \u201cofficial misconduct\u201d\u2014a Class II misdemeanor\u2014against Jacy Todd of York, who was a notary for the successful ballot measures to legalize and regulate medical cannabis last year. Todd is believed to be the first notary criminally charged in this way.<\/p>\n

Todd is accused of allegedly notarizing petition pages outside the presence of a petition circulator, Michael Egbert of Grand Island, on 24 different dates, each leading to a separate criminal charge. Todd has repeatedly denied all allegations.<\/p>\n

Egbert admitted to using a phone book to illegally add voters to petition pages. He accepted a plea deal<\/a>, reducing a Class IV felony charge to a Class I misdemeanor and $250 fine. Egbert said during a Lancaster County trial against the ballot measures<\/a> that he has a mental condition that affects his memory.<\/p>\n

Butler said he had to view the appeal from Hall County Attorney Marty Klein, who is working with the Nebraska Attorney General\u2019s Office in the case, \u201cin the light most favorable\u201d to the State of Nebraska because Todd and his attorney have motioned to end the case.<\/p>\n

More facts are needed, Butler argued, and the \u201cextreme outcome\u201d of a motion to quash should be \u201crare.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGranting the motion to quash was not appropriate at that time when considering the facts most favorable to the nonmoving party,\u201d Butler wrote<\/a>. \u201cFurther, and most importantly to the court, a notary public is a public servant that is subject to civil penalties and criminal penalties if warranted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Integrity of our elections\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a statement, the AG\u2019s Office expressed gratitude for Butler\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cNotaries are public officials who play an important role in our election process to ensure that the integrity of our elections are secured,\u201d spokesperson Suzanne Gage said in a statement.<\/p>\n

As the AG\u2019s Office considered an appeal late last year, attorney Mark Porto representing Todd<\/a> said that \u201ca series of politically orchestrated (and false) Class II misdemeanors are among the least scary and intimidating things\u201d that Todd, a veteran, had ever seen.<\/p>\n

Porto did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Public servant or public duties?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hall County Judge Alfred Corey in November ruled that notary publics were not public officials<\/a> and agreed with the \u201cmotion to quash\u201d from Todd and his attorney, Mark Porto.<\/p>\n

Corey said that while important, notarial duties \u201chardly implicate responsibilities that go to the heart of representative government\u201d and were \u201cessentially clerical and ministerial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Butler said he did not see a distinction between different definitions of \u201cpublic servant\u201d across state laws and that notaries are \u201cofficers\u201d who are appointed by the Nebraska Secretary of State\u2019s Office to hold office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis language clearly shows that a notary public is a public servant as an officer,\u201d Butler wrote.<\/p>\n

\u2018Voice of its residents\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Butler questioned the extent of resources being used to pursue such criminal charges and the number of such charges \u201cwhen looking at the current climate of the state and voice of its residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly 71 percent of voters voted to legalize medical cannabis, and about 67 percent to regulate it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, those decisions are left to another entity,\u201d Butler wrote. \u201cThe court simply is tasked with applying the laws as written and, in this matter, the motion to quash should have been denied and the matter considered by a finder[s] of fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case returns to Hall County Court, unless appealed up to the Nebraska Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Nebraska Examiner.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Pennsylvania Governor Will Put Marijuana Legalization In His Budget, But Top GOP Senator Remains Skeptical<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel<\/a> and Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Nebraska Judge Allows Criminal Charges To Go Forward Against Notary Public For Voter-Passed Medical Marijuana Initiatives<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Nebraska Judge Allows Criminal Charges To Go Forward Against Notary Public For Voter-Passed Medical Marijuana Initiatives<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cA notary public is a public servant that is subject to civil penalties and criminal penalties if warranted.\u201d By Zach Wendling, Nebraska Examiner The District Court of Hall County decided Tuesday to allow criminal charges against a notary public for \u201cofficial misconduct\u201d to proceed, overturning a lower court decision. DistrictContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81008"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81009,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81008\/revisions\/81009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}