About Nathan Eckstrom

I grew up southeast of Norfolk in rural Stanton County.  I received a bachelor’s degree in Government from Patrick Henry College in 2014 and my law degree from Washington University in Saint Louis in 2017 before returning to Nebraska for good. Along the way, I interned for Senator Mike Johanns and twice in Lincoln for U.S. District Court Judge John Gerrard, formerly of Norfolk.

My interest in law actually began in high school.  At age 14, I took an online class in Constitutional Law, in which we read various decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court (and a few other courts).  Among many others, we studied Dred Scott v. Sandford (a case shortly before the Civil War holding that slaves were not persons), Roe v. Wade, and Kelo v. City of New London (a case from 1995 deciding that the government can use the power of eminent domain to take private property away from landowners and give it to private developers).  This class opened my eyes to the importance of the law and the ways that legal decisions affect the lives of ordinary people.  What happens with the law matters, and when judges and lawyers make good decisions, people’s rights are protected and society is preserved.  But when judges and lawyers follow their own agenda or their own feelings, the rights of citizens are trampled on, and society can no longer trust its laws or its leaders.  Since taking that class, I have felt a call to serve in the legal field for the purpose of making legal decisions well.

After graduating law school, I served in Omaha as a research attorney for the district judges of the Fourth Judicial District Court in Douglas County, helping them research and write their decisions.  Then in 2018, when a job opportunity with the Madison County Attorney’s Office presented itself, I jumped at the chance to return home to Northeast Nebraska.  I had previously interned for the Madison County Attorney while still in college, and I could think of no place I would rather work.  I have been privileged to serve the people of Madison County as a Deputy County Attorney since 2018, and I look forward to the opportunity to keep serving you as your lead prosecutor.

The Lord has blessed me with a lovely wife, a native Nebraskan who grew up on her family farm. We have three delightful children (including one born during my campaign for county attorney!) and make our home near Madison.  We are active in our church where, among other things, I currently serve as a deacon and my wife and I lead music together once a month.

My community and professional involvement includes serving as the current Secretary of the Madison County Republican Party, teaching seminars for attorneys, and serving on the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Commission appointed by the Nebraska Supreme Court. I am also a Blackstone Fellow with the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization devoted to defending the freedoms of speech and religion which has recently won several major victories before the U.S. Supreme Court.