D. Paul Hartnett (known as "Paul Hartnett," 1927 or 1928 – June 26, 2022) was a member of the Nebraska Legislature for 20 years from 1985 to 2005.^[1][2]

Paul Hartnett was raised in Hubbard, Nebraska, on a family farm but left to attend Wayne State College where he pursued a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in education.^[1][3] While at Wayne State College, he met and married Marjorie Sheehan in 1951. Hartnett began his career as a teacher, coach, and administrator first at Brunswick, Nebraska, and then back in his hometown of Hubbard.^[3]

In 1958, Hartnett moved to Bellevue, Nebraska, to serve as an administrator in the Bellevue Public School District.^[3] While serving at Bellevue, he pursued a Doctor of Education from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and in 1966 became a professor at Creighton University where he taught for 38 years until retiring in 2004.^[3] During this time, Hartnett was elected to the Bellevue School Board in 1968, a position which he held until 1984.^[1]

In 1984, Hartnett was elected to the Nebraska Legislature to represent District 45 in Bellevue. He was re-elected in 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000 before deciding to retire and not seek re-election in 2004.^[1] Hartnett was known as the "driving force" behind the construction of the Kennedy Freeway through Bellevue, and he also worked to bring a national veterans cemetery to Sarpy County, Nebraska, and to expand the tourism tax authority to benefit more Nebraska communities.^[3]

Hartnett died aged 94 on June 26, 2022, in Bellevue.^[2]

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