Nebraska Supreme Court Justice vacancy (October 2025)
| Nebraska Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Miller-Lerman vacancy |
| Date: October 31, 2025 |
| Status: Retirement scheduled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: To be determined |
| Date: To be determined |
Nebraska Supreme Court Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman is retiring on October 31, 2025. Miller-Lerman's replacement will be Governor Pillen's (R) third nominee to the seven-member supreme court.
In Nebraska, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
When a vacancy occurs on the Nebraska Supreme Court, a judicial nominating commission submits the names of at least two qualified nominees to the governor, who appoints one to fill the vacancy. If the governor does not appoint one of the nominees within 60 days, the chief justice of the supreme court is authorized to select a new judge.[1]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Nebraska Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2025.
Appointee candidates and nominations
Ballotpedia will post information on candidates and prospective appointees as information becomes available. If you know of information that should be included here, please email us.
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Nebraska
In Nebraska, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Nebraska Supreme Court
About the court
| Nebraska Supreme Court |
|---|
|
| Court Information |
| Justices: 7 |
| Founded: 1866 |
| Location: Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Salary |
| Associates: $225,055[2] |
| Judicial Selection |
| Method: Assisted appointment (Hybrid) |
| Term: 6 years |
| Active justices |
| Jason Bergevin, William Cassel, John Freudenberg, Jeffrey Funke, Lindsey Miller-Lerman, Jonathan Papik, Stephanie Stacy |
Founded in 1866, the Nebraska Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is Jeffrey Funke.
As of January 2025, six judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor, and one judge was appointed by a Democratic governor.
The Nebraska Supreme Court meets in the state capitol building in Lincoln, Nebraska.[3]
In Nebraska, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
Justices
Following Miller-Lerman's retirement, the Nebraska Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Stephanie Stacy | Appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) in 2015 | |
| ■ Jeffrey Funke | Appointed by Gov. Jim Pillen (R) in 2024 | |
| ■ William Cassel | Appointed by Gov. Dave Heineman (R) in 2012 | |
| ■ Jonathan Papik | Appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) in 2018 | |
| ■ Jason Bergevin | Appointed by Gov. Jim Pillen (R) in 2025 | |
| ■ John Freudenberg | Appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) in 2018 |
About Justice Miller-Lerman
- See also: Lindsey Miller-Lerman
Miller-Lerman was born on July 30, 1947, in Los Angeles, Calif.[4] She received a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 1968, a law degree from Columbia University in 1973, and an honorary doctorate from the College of St. Mary in 1993.[5] During her legal education at Columbia, Miller-Lerman worked as a law clerk with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.[5]
In 1976, Miller-Lerman joined the Omaha, Neb., law firm Kutak Rock & Huie as an associate attorney. She remained with the firm until 1992 when Gov. Ben Nelson (D) appointed her to the Nebraska Court of Appeals.[5] In 1995, Miller-Lerman was elevated to become the chief judge of the court, a position she held until Nelson appointed her to the Nebraska Supreme Court in 1998.[5]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2025
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2025
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2025. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2024.
| 2025 State Supreme Court Vacancies |
|---|
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ State of Nebraska Judicial Branch, "Branch Overview," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ The salary of the chief justice may be higher than an associate justice.
- ↑ State of Nebraska Judicial Branch, "Supreme Court," accessed August 18, 2021
- ↑ Lincoln Journal Star, "Who's on the Nebraska Supreme Court," Aug. 20, 2004
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Cite error: Invalid
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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
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