Nebraska Judicial Nominating Commissions
| Judicial nominating commissions |
|---|
 |
| Individual nominating committees |
| Select a committee in the dropdown below and click "Submit" to view information about that committee. |
| Methods of judicial selection |
| Partisan elections |
| Nonpartisan elections |
| Michigan method |
| Retention elections |
| Assisted appointment |
| Bar-controlled commission |
| Governor-controlled commission |
| Hybrid commission |
| Legislative elections |
| Gubernatorial appointment |
The Nebraska Judicial Nominating Commissions are state commissions in Nebraska authorized by Article V of the Nebraska Constitution that play a role in the state's judicial selection process. Individual commissions exist for each district of the Nebraska Supreme Court, Nebraska Court of Appeals, Nebraska District Courts, and courts of limited jurisdiction, and another selects the chief justice of the Supreme Court.[1] According to the Nebraska Supreme Court's website, "Each commission is comprised of nine members. The Governor appoints four nonlawyers, no more than two of whom may be from the same political party, and the Nebraska State Bar Association elects four attorneys, no more than two of whom may be from the same political party. The Chief Justice or a justice of the Supreme Court chairs each commission. Alternate members are available for commission members who may need to resign."[2]
As of November 2021, all Nebraska judges were selected through the assisted appointment method, where the governor selects a nominee from a list provided by a nominating commission. Justices of the Supreme Court, Appeals Court, and District Court must run in a yes-no retention election during the first general election occurring after they have been on the court for three years.[3]
The Nebraska judicial nominating commissions are hybrid commissions. The judicial nominating commissions have no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state bar association. These commissions determine membership in a variety of ways, but no institution or organization has clear majority control.
Members
Last updated: April 2025.
The Nebraska judicial nominating commissions are composed of nine members. Four are appointed by the governor, and four are appointed by the Nebraska State Bar Association. A Nebraska Supreme Court judge chosen by the governor serves as a non-voting chair of each commission.
The governor's four appointees must be nonlawyers, and no more than two of them can be from the same political party. The Nebraska State Bar Association's appointees must be attorneys, and like the governor's appointees, no more than two of them can be from the same political party.[2]
Click here to view each commission's members and the term-end date of each member.
Process
The Judicial Nominating Commissioner's Manual lays out the following steps for filling a judicial vacancy:[2]
- Judicial Resources Commission - Before a nominating commission selects nominees for a district or county court vacancy, the Nebraska Judicial Resources Commission confirms the existence of a vacancy and determines whether any changes in the process need to be made, in which case it makes a recommendation to the legislature. If no changes are necessary, then no action by the legislature is needed and the nominating commission may begin the process of filling the vacancy. If changes are recommended, the legislature will act on the resources commission's recommendation.
- Arranging a Meeting of the Commission - The Supreme Court chairperson arranges the soonest possible time that the commission can meet. The meeting must be open to the public.
- Notice of Public Hearing - When a hearing date is arranged, a press release is sent to all state and local media outlets, the governor's office, the legislators from the relevant district, and to the relevant court clerks.
- Recruitment of Applicants - The statutes governing the commissions allow members to solicit qualified individuals to apply.
- Application Forms - The office of commission's chairperson gathers all submitted applications and sends copies of these applications to commission members before the public hearing.
- Information Following the Application Deadline - At least ten days before the public hearing, the chairperson releases the list of applicants to the media. The State Court Administrator's office investigates the applicants' references, credit history, and application information and provides commission members with summary reports.
- Educational Meeting Prior to the Public Hearing - Prior to the public hearing, the chairperson can hold an educational session to review rules governing the selection process.
- Public Hearing - Within 60 days after the judicial vacancy, a public hearing must be held allowing for citizens' testimony. Applicants may attend and provide their own testimony.
- Interviews - If the commission wishes, it can privately interview all or some of the applicants.
- Commission Meeting to Vote on and Submit Nominees - After the public hearing, the commission selects nominees by a private rollcall vote. All eight voting members must be in attendance. An applicant must have at least five votes in order to be one of the nominees submitted to the Governor.
Duties
As of April 2025, the Nebraska Judicial Nominating Commission website did not list specific duties for members of the commission.
Control of judicial selection commissions
Assisted appointment is a method of judicial selection in which a nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list.[4]
At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types, based on the makeup of the judicial nominating commissions. Those types are:
- Governor-controlled commission - The governor is either responsible for appointing a majority of the members of the nominating commission or may decline to appoint a candidate from a list provided by the nominating commission.
- Bar-controlled commission - Members of the state Bar Association are responsible for electing a majority of the members of the nominating commission.
- Hybrid - There is no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state Bar Association. The membership of these commissions is determined by different rules in each state.
Twenty-three courts in 22 states used assisted appointment to select state supreme court justices as of June 2021.[5][6] Nebraska used a hyrbid commission. The table below shows the number of courts using each variation of assisted appointment at the state supreme court level.
| Assisted appointment methods in state supreme courts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Courts (of 23) | ||
| Governor-controlled majority | 10 | ||
| Bar-controlled majority | 1 | ||
| Hybrid | 12 | ||
The map below highlights the states that use each of the three types of assisted appointment.
About judicial selection
Each state has a unique set of guidelines governing how they select judges at the state and local level. These methods of selection are:
Election
- Partisan election: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot alongside a label designating political party affiliation.
- Nonpartisan election: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot without a label designating party affiliation.
- Michigan method: State supreme court justices are selected through nonpartisan elections preceded by either partisan primaries or conventions.
- Retention election: A periodic process whereby voters are asked whether an incumbent judge should remain in office for another term. Judges are not selected for initial terms in office using this election method.
Assisted appointment
- Assisted appointment, also known as merit selection or the Missouri Plan: A nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list.[4] At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types:
- Bar-controlled commission: Members of the state Bar Association are responsible for electing a majority of the judicial nominating commission that sends the governor a list of nominees that they must choose from.
- Governor-controlled commission: The governor is responsible for appointing a majority of the judicial nominating commission that sends the governor a list of nominees they must choose from.
- Hybrid commission: The judicial nominating commission has no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state bar association. These commissions determine membership in a variety of ways, but no institution or organization has a clear majority control.
Direct appointment
- Court appointment: Judges are selected by judges in the state judiciary.
- Gubernatorial appointment: Judges are appointed by the governor. In some cases, approval from the legislative body is required.
- Legislative election: Judges are selected by the state legislature.
- Municipal government selection: Judges are selected by the governing body of their municipality.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Nebraska Supreme Court, "Committees and Commissions," accessed November 23, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nebraska Supreme Court, "Judicial Nominating Commissioner's Manual," accessed November 23, 2021
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed November 23, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 American Bar Association, "Judicial Selection: The Process of Choosing Judges," June 2008 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "ambaroverview" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ As of June 2021, Oklahoma had two state supreme courts: one for civil matters and one for criminal matters.
- ↑ North Dakota uses this method only for vacancies.
Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Nebraska • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Nebraska
State courts:
Nebraska Supreme Court • Nebraska Court of Appeals • Nebraska District Courts • Nebraska County Courts • Nebraska Separate Juvenile Courts • Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court • Nebraska Problem-Solving Courts
State resources:
Courts in Nebraska • Nebraska judicial elections • Judicial selection in Nebraska
