Opinion
A21-1520
04-12-2022
IN RE Petition for DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST Steven Robert BOWERS, a Minnesota Attorney, Registration No. 0388407.
ORDER
The Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility has filed a petition for disciplinary action seeking reciprocal discipline after the Nebraska Supreme Court publicly reprimanded respondent Steven Robert Bowers for misconduct he committed while he acted in his capacity as the Custer County Attorney. See State ex rel. Counsel for Discipline of the Neb. Sup. Ct. v. Bowers , 309 Neb. 423, 959 N.W.2d 563, 564–65 (2021). Specifically, respondent entered into agreements with two defendants who had been charged with felonies that he did not disclose to the district court. Id. at 564. In these agreements, the defendants agreed to "plead guilty or no contest to the pending charges," and respondent agreed to "assist in getting their bonds reduced so the defendants could be released from jail before their sentencing." Id. Respondent further agreed that if the defendants left the state "and failed to appear at their respective sentencing hearings and a bench warrant were issued, [he] would direct the sheriff of Custer County not to seek to extradite the defendants." Id. Respondent's misconduct violated Neb. Ct. R. of Prof. Cond. §§ 3-503.3(a)(1) and 3-503.3(b) and 3-508.4(c) and 3-508.4(d). Bowers , 959 N.W.2d at 564–65.
Respondent and the Director have entered into a stipulation for discipline. In it, respondent waives his procedural rights under Rule 12(d), Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility (RLPR), and unconditionally admits the allegations in the petition. The parties jointly recommend that the appropriate discipline is a public reprimand.
We issued an order to show cause. In it we directed the parties to file memorandum addressing why Bowers should not be subject to more severe discipline and providing additional information about Bowers’ Nebraska misconduct. The parties filed responsive memorandum in which they both argued that we should impose reciprocal discipline of a public reprimand.
Because this is a reciprocal discipline case, "[t]he question ... is not whether [the court] might have imposed different discipline had [Bowers’] disciplinary proceedings originated in Minnesota, but rather ‘whether the discipline imposed by [Nebraska] is unjust or substantially different from discipline warranted in Minnesota.’ " In re Overboe , 867 N.W.2d 482, 487 (Minn. 2015) (quoting In re Meaden , 628 N.W.2d 129, 134 (Minn. 2001) ). We do not believe a public reprimand is unjust or substantially different from discipline warranted in Minnesota. We approve the jointly recommended disposition.
Based upon all the files, records, and proceedings herein,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1. Respondent Steven Robert Bowers is publicly reprimanded; and
2. Respondent shall pay $900 in costs. See Rule 24(a), RLPR.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ __________
Natalie E. Hudson
Associate Justice