The Hon. Terri S. Harder is a judge for the 10th Judicial District Court of Nebraska. She was appointed to the bench by former Governor Mike Johanns on September 3, 1999.
The 10th Judicial District encompasses Adams, Clay, Franklin, Harlan, Kearney, Nuckolls, Phelps, and Webster Counties. Over the course of her judicial career, Harder was invited to sit with the Nebraska Supreme Court on March 6, 2024. She heard arguments in the case of Raysean Barber v. State of Nebraska (S-23-0627).
Harder earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1981. She then completed a J.D. at the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1985. As a law student, she clerked with the Lancaster County Public Defender’s Office (1983 to 1985).
She is licensed to practice in Nebraska (1985), the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska (1985), the United States Tax Court (1988), and the United States Supreme Court (1995).
After graduating from law school, Harder entered into private practice in Kearney, working as an associate at Jacobsen, Orr, Nelson, Wright, Harder & Lindstrom. During her tenure there, she specialized in family law matters, quickly rising through the ranks to become a partner and shareholder in 1988.
Her memberships have included the Nebraska State Bar Association. She has also been involved with United Way of the Kearney Area, and she has served on the Good Samaritan Hospital Board of Directors, the Nebraska Foster Care Review Board, and the City of Minden Planning & Zoning Committee.
The daughter of a high school teacher and a homemaker, Harder was raised in Creighton, Nebraska, where she attended Creighton High School. She was a resident of Minden, Nebraska, at the time of her appointment. Her husband, Doug Kristensen, has served as Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature and Chancellor of the University of Nebraska Kearney. The couple has two daughters. When not presiding over legal proceedings, Harder enjoys collecting antiques, restoring her historic home, and playing golf with her husband. She is also an amateur genealogist.