Estate of Schluntz v. Lower Republican NRD, 915 N.W.2d 427

LRNRD (a natural resources district) issued a cease-and-desist order and civil penalties against the estate of Gerald Schluntz and co-defendants for alleged groundwater-use violations on farmland located in Furnas County.
Administrative hearings on LRNRD’s complaint were held (first and all subsequent hearings) in LRNRD’s offices in Harlan County; appellants were represented by counsel at those hearings.
Appellants sought judicial review by filing a petition in Furnas County District Court asking that the LRNRD order be vacated as arbitrary, capricious, and procedurally defective.
LRNRD moved to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction (and failure to state a claim); the district court granted dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
The court based dismissal on the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requirement that petitions for review be filed in “the district court of the county where the action is taken,” which the court and prior Nebraska cases interpret to mean the county of the first adjudicated hearing (Harlan County), not the county where the land is located.
Appellants argued Furnas County was proper (citing venue statutes and the land’s location); the Supreme Court rejected this, reaffirming the prior "first adjudicated hearing" rule and affirming dismissal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether venue for judicial review under the APA is the county where the land at issue is located or the county where the first adjudicated administrative hearing occurred.	Petition in Furnas County is proper because the disputed land lies in Furnas County and §25-401 allows actions concerning real estate in the county where the land is located.	APA and Ground Water Management Act require review in the county where the action is taken; prior Nebraska precedent construes that phrase to mean the county of the first adjudicated hearing (Harlan County).	Held: Review must be filed in the district court of the county where the first adjudicated hearing occurred; petition in Furnas County was filed in the wrong county and dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction affirmed.

Nebraska Dept. of Health & Human Servs. v. Weekley, 274 Neb. 516 (court adopts "first adjudicated hearing" rule for APA venue)
Essman v. Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Ctr., 252 Neb. 347 (same interpretation of "county where the action is taken")
Metro Renovation v. State, 249 Neb. 337 (same rule applied)
Bd. of Ed. of Keya Paha County v. State Board of Education, 212 Neb. 448 (earlier articulation of venue rule)
Heckman v. Marchio, 296 Neb. 458 (legislative acquiescence presumed where statute repeatedly judicially construed)