Kristi Egger

Kristi Egger (Democratic Party) is the Lancaster County Public Defender in Nebraska. She assumed office on January 5, 2023. Her current term ends on January 7, 2027.

Egger (Democratic Party) ran for election for Lancaster County Public Defender in Nebraska. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Egger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Kristi Egger earned a law degree from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln College of Law in 1988. Her career experience includes working as an attorney in the Lancaster County Public Defender’s Office. She previously worked in the Hall County (Grand Island) Public Defender’s Office. Egger has served on the Nebraska Bar Foundation Mock Trial Writing Committee. ^[1]

Elections

2022

General election

General election for Lancaster County Public Defender

Kristi Egger defeated Trevin Preble in the general election for Lancaster County Public Defender on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kristi Egger (D)	54.0	59,709
	Submit photo	Trevin Preble (R)	45.9	50,700
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	119

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 110,528
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Lancaster County Public Defender

Kristi Egger defeated incumbent Joe Nigro in the Democratic primary for Lancaster County Public Defender on May 10, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kristi Egger	64.3	15,491
	Submit photo	Joe Nigro	35.5	8,561
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	46

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 24,098
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Trevin Preble advanced from the Republican primary for Lancaster County Public Defender.

Endorsements

To view Egger's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

Kristi Egger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Egger's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a lifelong Nebraskan and lifelong Public Defender, devoting my entire 33 year legal career to serving indigent clients in over 10,000 cases. My experience in every type of defense case and my dedication to the Office and to clients puts me in the best position to lead the Office. I retired after 32 years in the Lancaster County PD’s Office to run against the incumbent. I won in the Primary and now face a private attorney who has never even worked in a Public Defender’s Office and has been an attorney less than 8 years. My experience, dedication, integrity and knowledge of this Office makes me the most qualified candidate to lead the Office. Please check out my website at KristiEgger.org to learn more about me.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

The focus of everyone in the Office must be to zealously advocate for our clients. We will assist clients with mental health and substance issues to enter into diversion, problem-solving courts, and treatment programs, which decrease recidivism.
We will work to decrease over incarceration, advocate to establish a Mental Health Court, and assist the legislative process in those endeavors as needed.
I will work full-time at the office, supporting attorneys and staff through mentoring, working side-by-side, and leading by example. My 32 years of experience in the Office put me in a prime position to lead.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Mental health reform must be a priority for Lancaster County. We need to establish a Mental Health Court, which will be able to assist and serve more people than the current programs. In addition, we must try to assist people in getting into diversion, problem-solving courts, and getting into treatment, as warehousing people in jail has never worked. The focus must be on getting people the help they need, decreasing recidivism, and, thus, making the community safer for everyone and saving taxpayer money.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am dedicated to Public Defense. Ever since I was young I knew that I wanted to help people. As a Public Defender for over 33 years, I have served clients in more than 10,000 cases, and in every type of case the Office handles. My latest caseload involved felony offenses, not responsible by reason of insanity reviews, and mental health cases. My knowledge and experience puts me in an excellent position to lead the office, having worked with the attorneys, staff, social workers, paralegals, investigators and law clerks. I have mentored many law students and younger attorneys, and I have worked collaboratively with attorneys in the office and with the private bar. For over 3 decades I have worked with courts, prosecutors, and community providers to best serve clients and our community. My desire to help our clients also helps our community, because when the focus is on rehabilitation and reintegration, everyone benefits.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

It is vitally important for the elected Public Defender to have actually worked in a Public Defender’s Office. If you have not actually worked in a Public Defender’s Office, you cannot understand the stress and complexities of the Office. We are not like a private law firm who gets to pick their clients, pick their cases and reject those they don’t want to retain. We are obligated to provide top quality representation to all our clients, many of which have mental health and/or substance issues. The elected official (and all of the staff) must have a heart for service, be compassionate, and work hard for clients. Our clients are oftentimes discriminated against, and it is our responsibility to stand up for them and ensure that their Constitutional and human rights are protected and supported.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first jobs were cleaning houses and babysitting. As a farm kid, that was what was available. When I was 14, I detassled corn, and I did that every summer for 7 years. At 16, I started working at McDonalds evenings and weekends during high school, and I worked there for 7 years, working my way up to Swing/Shift Manager, paying my way through college and saving up for law school.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 10, 2022

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 10, 2022

[1]

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Kristi Egger

Contents

Biography

Elections

2022

General election

General election for Lancaster County Public Defender

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Lancaster County Public Defender

Republican primary election

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

2026 Elections

2024 Election analysis

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Public Policy

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