PANHANDLE -- County Court Judge James M. Worden of the 12th Judicial District has announced his retirement, effective February 9, 2026.

Judge Worden served the 12th District, comprised of Banner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel, Grant, Garden, Kimball, Morrill, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, and Sioux counties, since his appointment in 2005. In his announcement letter to the governor, Judge Worden thanked staff and commended his fellow county court judges as individuals “that care deeply about the people they serve and the laws they are bound to enforce.”

During his time as on the bench, Judge Worden has served as a member of the Scotts Bluff Juvenile Drug Court. Additionally, he served as President of the Nebraska County Judges Association from 2011-2012, while also holding leadership and committee roles in the organization throughout his career.

After taking the bench in 2005, Worden has been regularly retained in his judicial position by area voters, most recently in 2020.

The first step in replacing Judge Worden will be for the Judicial Resources Commission to call a meeting to determine whether, based on judicial workload statistics, his retirement creates a judicial vacancy on the county court for the 12th Judicial District.