DAKOTA CITY -- When taking the bench for the first time, a new reality begins to set in for a new judge.
No longer a lawyer, he or she is looking out at everyone rather than looking up toward the bench. Some have said they momentarily forget to inform everyone they may be seated, used to waiting to hear that statement rather than saying it themselves.
Ed Matney's first time seated at the bench rather than in front of it came with similar feelings.
"I used the word surreal," Matney said. "You're used to hearing the judge saying these things and now you're asking these things."
Matney, 50, of South Sioux City, was quietly sworn as a new county judge in Nebraska's 6th Judicial District on Jan. 7, putting off a formal ceremony until the coronavirus pandemic eases up so that more family and friends can attend. The district covers seven Northeast Nebraska counties, but he'll primarily preside in Dakota County, succeeding Kurt Rager, who retired last year.
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Matney's experience on the bench in the Dakota County Courthouse was new, but he's no stranger to the room. He served as a deputy Dakota County Attorney and was the Dakota County Attorney on two separate occasions. He also served two separate stints as the Cedar County Attorney. Since 2012, he also maintained a private practice in South Sioux City while working in both Dakota and Cedar counties.
"My goal and my hope is to carry on the tradition of the judges I've worked with. They were always people that had the message you were always welcome in the courtroom and they would listen to both sides," Matney said.
If you were to go back in time and tell the college-aged Matney that someday he'd be a judge, he likely wouldn't believe you. While majoring in Spanish at Iowa State University, the 1989 East High graduate wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do after graduation. Would he follow in the steps of his grandmother, Arlone Malcom, a longtime Spanish teacher at West High, or take a different career path?
One summer while in college he called Forker Law Firm in Sioux City out of the blue to see if he might be able to spend the summer working there as an intern. He was hired. He spent the summer helping in the office and filing documents at the courthouse.
"That's what really set me on, 'Hey, I want to go to law school,'" said Matney, son of the late Ed and Nicky Matney.
He attended law school at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, graduating in 1996, and was hired as a deputy Dakota County attorney, fulfilling his desire to be a prosecutor.
"What appealed to me is the role a county attorney and prosecution have in assisting victims of crime," he said.
And so he did in the following years, including a stint as an administrator and attorney in the Children and Family Services Division at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services from 2009-12.
He said many lawyers think about becoming a judge at some point in their careers. When Rager announced his retirement in July, Matney said he immediately thought maybe it was time for him to take that chance.
"It took me some time to think about it. It's a big change and it's a big responsibility," he said.
Matney ultimately applied, his first attempt at becoming a judge. Gov. Pete Ricketts appointed him Dec. 17.
Matney said hopes to follow the legacies of mentors such as Rager, Patrick Rogers and Doug Luebe, all judges that he practiced before and admired. Since his appointment, he's had a chance to observe other experienced judges while easing into a full court schedule and adjusting to the career change.
"Every day is a new adventure," he said. "Little by little, I'm getting accustomed to it."