FAIRBURY, Neb. (AP) — The governor has appointed a Fairbury lawyer to a county court judgeship in southeast Nebraska.

On Tuesday the office of Gov. Dave Heineman announced that Linda Bauer will be replacing Judge J. Patrick McArdle, who has retired from his post in the 1st Judicial District The district is composed of Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Nemaha, Pawnee, Richardson, Saline (suh-LEEN’) and Thayer counties.

The 48-year-old Bauer has been a partner at Schwab & Bauer in Fairbury since 1996 and has been Jefferson County attorney since 1996. She is a law school graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.