Press Coverage of Court Order - Temple v. Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District

As indicated in an earlier press release, the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District received a copy of a Memorandum and Order issued on December 27, 2023 by Judge John M. Gerrard, Senior United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska in the aforementioned case.  In the Order the Court ruled that 1) The plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction is granted in part and 2) that the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resource District is preliminarily enjoined from enforcing the August 10, 2023, sanction suspending Temple’s rights under Neb. Rev. Stat. §2-3218 which references compensation and expenses for members of the board.

This matter had been covered by various state and local media outlets, but the degree of accuracy on this coverage varies greatly.  Some media outlets accurately report that the District is preliminarily enjoined from enforcing the sanction relative to reimbursement for out of district travel expenses, and that the sanction which removed Director Temple from all committee assignments may remain intact.  However, some news articles have suggested that ALL of Director Temple’s rights as an NRD Director are preliminarily enjoined. This statement is inaccurate. With regard to Director Temple’s subcommittee assignments, the Court found, “It does not offend the Constitution to limit Temple's ability to sit on subcommittees. The LENRD may constitutionally execute this sanction.” As a result and as previously stated, the District will comply with the Order and restore only those rights and responsibilities required by the Order at this time, which does not include subcommittee assignments.