Nebraska Supreme Court

	Nebraska Supreme Court
	Court information
Justices:	7
Location:	Lincoln, Nebraska
	Judicial selection
Method:	Comm. select., Gov. appt.
Term:	6 years
	Active justices
	Michael Heavican • Kenneth Stephan • Lindsey Miller-Lerman • Michael McCormack • William Connolly • John Wright • William Cassel •
	Former justices

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Nebraska Supreme Court
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The Nebraska Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Nebraska.^[1]

Justices

The current justices of the court are:

Judge	Term	Appointed by
Chief Justice Michael Heavican	2006-2016	Dave Heineman
Justice Kenneth Stephan	1997-2018	Gov. Ben Nelson
Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman	1998-2014	Gov. Ben Nelson
Justice Michael McCormack	1997-2018	Gov. Ben Nelson
Justice William Connolly	1994-2016	Gov. Ben Nelson
Justice John Wright	1994-2016	Gov. Ben Nelson
Justice William Cassel	2012-2016	Gov. Dave Heineman

Chief justice

The Chief Justice is appointed (and retained) at-large.

Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court has discretionary jurisdiction over the Court of Appeals, and mandatory jurisdiction over cases involving capital cases, or cases involving the death penalty, and cases determining the constitutionality of state statutes. In addition, the court can hear cases that are either removed from or bypass the Court of Appeals by "petition of further review."^[1]

Judicial selection

The Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The six Justices each represent a Supreme Court district. If a position becomes vacant, the judicial nominating commission, made up of four lawyers and four non-lawyers, holds a hearing to select potential candidates. The commission then submits two names to the Nebraska Governor, who then determines the replacing judge. If the Governor does not follow through with this responsibility within 60 days of receiving the nominees, the responsibility then goes to Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court.^[2] To retain the office, a judge must run in a retention election in the first general election that occurs after more than three years of serving in the office. Additionally, the judge must run every six years to retain his seat. When a judge runs for retention in office, the question presented on the voters’ ballots states: “Shall Judge___________be retained in office?” If the judge receives less than 50% of the affirmative vote, the judge is not retained. There is no mandatory retirement age for Nebraska judges, but they are granted retirement at age 65 or earlier, if it is due to disability.^[2]

Qualifications

Applicants for positions on all levels of Nebraska courts must meet a number of requirements in order to be appointed to office. Each person must be a U.S. citizen, be at least 30 years of age, and have practiced law a minimum of five years in the State of Nebraska. The person must also be currently admitted to practice before the Nebraska Supreme Court.^[2] For the Nebraska Judicial Nominating Commission manual, click here.

Caseloads

Year	New cases docketed	Cases transferred from court of appeals	Cases disposed by opinion	Cases disposed without opinion	Total cases disposed
2010	59	98	185	35	220
2009	78	102	223	52	275
2008	54	145	218	32	250
2007	63	137	198	54	252
2006	57	123	200	52	252
2005	77	133	210	47	257
2004	81	141	205	54	259
2003	65	175	212	70	282
2002	75	135	259	52	311
2001	77	144	207	52	259