U.S. Attorney Steven A. Russell Announces Retirement

After 37 years of service, United States Attorney for the District of Nebraska Steven A. Russell announced today that he intends to retire on June 30, 2023. 

An alumnus of the University of Nebraska College of Law (Class of 1982), Russell joined the United States Attorney’s Office in 1985, briefly serving in Omaha before moving to Lincoln in January 1986. Russell handled a wide variety of civil and criminal matters, including civil litigation, white collar fraud, tax crimes, drug trafficking, civil rights violations and crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.  During his time in the office, Russell has served at various times as Branch Manager for the Lincoln U.S Attorney’s Office, Senior Litigation Counsel, Appellate Coordinator and First Assistant United States Attorney.  On June 1, 2022, Russell was appointed as Acting United States Attorney and later appointed by the United States District Court to serve as Interim United States Attorney, a position he has held since.  The United States District Court will appoint Russell’s successor to take over as Interim United States Attorney following the end of his service until such time as a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney is named. 

Russell said, “It is an honor to have served the citizens of Nebraska in the United States Attorney’s Office for the past nearly 38 years.  It is a privilege to have worked with many talented law enforcement agents who are dedicated public servants truly desiring to make their communities safer every day.  I am humbled to have been employed with so many excellent attorneys and support staff during my tenure here.  I was incredibly fortunate to have practiced before the finest judges in the country, whose intelligence, temperament, and commitment to the rule of law made each of them the living embodiment of what a great judge should be. There can be no greater source of professional pride than saying to the Court or a jury that ‘my name is Steve Russell, and I am an Attorney representing the United States of America.’  It has been a joy and pleasure to have worked in the United States Attorney’s Office.”