(AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has issued a public reprimand for a Douglas County District judge for intervening in a friend’s drunken driving case.

The high court found that Judge Gregory Schatz improperly intervened in the DUI case involving a friend, Omaha attorney Michael Davlin.

The judicial complaint said that in August 2012, Schatz was contacted by Davlin’s girlfriend — a Douglas County Court official — who tearfully relayed that Davlin was in an Omaha jail after driving drunk and hitting a tree.

The complaint says Schatz contacted the jail and used his judicial authority to have Davlin released without paying a bond.

In response to the complaint, Schatz said he understood what he did was wrong and that he has since taken a judicial ethics course.