LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen has elevated one of the associate justices on the Nebraska Supreme Court to be the state’s next chief justice.

Pillen selected Justice Jeffrey Funke of Nebraska City to succeed Chief Justice Mike Heavican of Lincoln, who will retire at the end of October.

Funke was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2016, while Heavican was appointed chief justice in 2006. The Supreme Court includes the chief justice and six associate justices.

Pillen said he and Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly, as well as their staff, reviewed each candidate’s application, past decisions, their leadership history and perspectives from judicial experts.

Funke had “all the attributes we expect from the court,” Pillen said Friday: “Sound judicial temperament, a brilliant mind and a binding commitment to honoring the text of the law as it’s written, and not as he might prefer it.”

“He is humbled by the challenges beforehand, I can assure you that, but has the confidence and the experience and expertise necessary to tackle those public challenges,” Pillen said.

First Tapped By Heineman

Funke said that when he graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1994, he had a goal of maybe becoming a county court judge some day. He began his law career in private practice and has also served as a deputy public defender, deputy county attorney and later county attorney for Otoe County in the 1990s and 2000s.

Former Gov. Dave Heineman selected Funke as a county court judge serving Cass, Sarpy and Otoe Counties in 2007. Heineman elevated Funke in 2013 to the 2nd District Court for the same counties. Former Gov. Pete Ricketts appointed Funke to the Supreme Court in 2016.

“I did not think I would be standing here,” Funke said Friday of his trajectory.

Nebraska has an extensive process for selecting judges and justices. First, a commission must determine that a vacancy exists. Then a nominating commission must solicit and interview candidates before forwarding at least two candidates to the governor for consideration.

For Heavican’s seat, four current judges applied, and the commission advanced all four names.

The other three candidates were Sarpy County Judge PaTricia Freeman, Saline County District Judge David Bargen and Lancaster County District Judge Ryan Post.

Funke and his eventual successor on the court will go to voters for an up-or-down vote on whether they should remain on the court, beginning in the 2028 general election. Such retention votes occur every six years for all Nebraska judges.

Funke thanked Pillen for his trust and confidence and said he respected the leadership of Heavican, who in his 18 years of service “transformed” the judicial branch as an advocate, an innovator and a diligent public servant. Heavican is the second longest serving Nebraska chief justice after former Chief Justice Robert Simmons, who served 1939-1963.

“There will never be anyone like him again,” Funke said.

Funke will ascend to Heavican’s role after taking the oath of office some time in the next week.

Heavican said Funke has taken over administrative leadership roles while serving on the high court, including with probation and problem-solving courts. Before Funke joined the high court, he also embraced and promoted the concept of cameras in trial courts, Heavican said. The chief justice was a leader in that arena, too.

“He has shown great leadership all along, and I’m very confident he’ll do a very, very fine job in the future,” Heavican said of Chief Justice-designate Funke.

In 2022, Funke testified before a legislative committee about how Nebraska could expand problem-solving courts.

Elevation Creates Vacancy

Last week, he and Justice John Freudenberg were the two dissenting justices in a case involving whether the Legislature could restore voting rights instead of the Pardons Board, in this instance restoring rights to felons after their sentence has been completed. Funke and Freudenberg ruled that such laws, passed in 2005 and 2024, were an encroachment on executive branch authority.

“Because partial pardons are a type of pardon and because the restoration of voting rights eliminates a legal consequence of a conviction, the restoration of voting rights has the defining features of [a] pardon,” Funke wrote last week.

Funke’s elevation leaves another vacancy for Pillen to fill: Nebraska Supreme Court District 5, in southeast Nebraska, excluding Lancaster County. The chief justice serves the state at large.

Freudenberg is chair of that district’s nominating commission, which is rounded out with four attorneys and four lay people who will soon solicit applications to replace Funke. Freudenberg is a nonvoting member of the commission. It takes five votes to advance a nominee.

All Nebraska justices have a salary of $225,055.35.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/10/25/justice-jeffrey-funke-chosen-as-.../