List of justices of the Nebraska Supreme Court explained

Following is a list of justices of the Nebraska Supreme Court:

Territorial Supreme Court justices

Judge	Began active service	Ended active service
	1854	1857
	1854	1860
	1854	1857
	1857^[1]	1857
	1857	1859
	1857	1861
	1858	1861
	1859	1860
	1861	1865^[2]
	1861	1867
	1861	1863
	1863	1867
	1865	1867

State Supreme Court chief justices

Chief Justice	Began service	Ended service	Seat/district	Appointed by
	1867^[3]	1873	Seat I	Elected
	1873^[4]	1878^[5]	Seat II
	1878	1878^[6]	Seat I
	1878	1882	Seat III
	1882^[7]	1884	Seat II
	1884	1886	Seat I
	1886	1888	Seat III
	1888	1890^[8]	Seat II
	1890	1892	Seat I
	1892^[9]	1894	Seat III
	1894	1896	Seat II
	1896	1898	Seat I
	1898	1900	Seat III
	1900	1902	Seat II
	1902	1904	Seat I
	1904	1906	Seat III
	1906	1908^[10]	Seat II
	1908	1909	Seat I
	1909	1915	At Large	Ashton C. Shallenberger
	1915^[11]	1915	At Large	John H. Morehead
	1915^[12]	1915	At Large	(pro tempore)
	1915^[13]	1927	At Large	John H. Morehead
	1927	1938	At Large	Adam McMullen
	1939^[14]	1963	At Large	Robert Leroy Cochran
	1963	1978	At Large	Frank Morrison
	1978	1978^[15]	At Large	(pro tempore)
	1978	1987^[16]	At Large	Jim Exon
	1987^[17]	1995	At Large	Kay Orr
	1995^[18]	1998	At Large	Ben Nelson
	1998^[19]	2006	At Large
	2006^[20]	Incumbent	At Large	Dave Heineman

All State Supreme Court justices

Judge	Began service	Ended service	Seat/district	Appointed by
^[21]	-	-	Seat I	Elected^[22]
	1867	1873	Seat I
	1867	1884	Seat II
	1867	1873	Seat III
	1873	1878	Seat I
	1873	1894	Seat III
	1878^[23]	1892	Seat I
	1884	1890	Seat II
	1890	1902	Seat II
	1892	1898	Seat I
	1894	1900	Seat III
	1898	1904	Seat I
	1900	1906	Seat III
	1902	1908	Seat II
	1904	1909	Seat I
	1906	1925	Seat III / District 3	Elected / Ashton C. Shallenberger
	1908^[24]	1915	Seat II / CJ
	1909^[25]	1910^[26]	District 2	Ashton C. Shallenberger
	1909	1911	District 5
^[27]	1909	1917	District 6
	1909	1943	District 1
	1909^[28]	1917	District 4
	1910^[29]	1919	District 2
	1911	1918	District 5	Chester H. Aldrich
	1915	1915	CJ	John H. Morehead
	1915^[30]	1927	CJ
	1917	1920	District 4	Keith Neville
	1917^[31]	1935	District 6
	1918^[32]	1924	District 5
	1920^[33]	1923	District 4	Samuel R. McKelvie
	1920^[34]	1927	District 2
	1923	1937	District 4	Charles Bryan
	1924^[35]	1931	District 5
	1925	1925	District 3	Adam McMullen
	1925^[36]	1943	District 3
	1927	1938	CJ
	1928^[37]	1929	District 2
	1929	1938	District 2	Arthur J. Weaver
	1931	1949	District 5	Charles Bryan
	1935	1971	District 6	Robert Leroy Cochran
	1937^[38]	1965	District 4
	1939^[39]	1940	District 2
	1939	1963	CJ
	1941^[40]	1965	District 2
	1943	1961	District 1	Dwight Griswold
	1943	1961	District 3
	1949	1961	District 5	Val Peterson
	1961	1979	District 1	Frank Morrison
	1961	1994^[41]	District 5
	1961^[42]	1967	District 3
	1963	1978	CJ
	1965^[43]	1983	District 4
	1965	1973	District 2
	1967	1977	District 3	Norbert Tiemann
	1971	1982	District 6	Jim Exon
	1974	1982	District 2
	1977^[44]	1998	District 3 / CJ	Jim Exon / Ben Nelson
	1978	1987	CJ	Jim Exon
	1979^[45]	1995	District 1 / CJ	Charles Thone / Kay Orr
	1982^[46]	1998	District 2	Charles Thone
	1983^[47]	1993^[48]	District 6	Bob Kerrey
	1983^[49]	1993	District 4
	1987^[50]	1996	District 1	Kay Orr
	1993^[51]	1997^[52]	District 4	Ben Nelson
	1994^[53]	2018^[54]	District 6
	1994^[55]	2016	District 5
	1995^[56]	2012	District 3
	1997^[57]	2015	District 1
	1997^[58]	2016	District 4
	1998^[59]	2006	CJ
	1998^[60]	Incumbent	District 2
	2006	Incumbent	CJ	Dave Heineman
	2012^[61]	Incumbent	District 3
	2015	Incumbent	District 1	Pete Ricketts
	2016	2018^[62]	District 4
	2016	Incumbent	District 5
	2018^[63]	Incumbent	District 4
	2018^[64]	Incumbent	District 6

Information Gathered from Slipping Backward: A History of the Nebraska Supreme Court, the Nebraska Blue Book, and History of Nebraska By Morton & Watkins

External links

• https://nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/bluebook/747-796.pdf

Notes and References

1. Listed as an associate judge of the Supreme Court in Complete Session Laws, 1855-87, Vol. 1, Page 370. Declined appointment and did not serve.
2. Granted leave of absence by President Lincoln to join the 7th Illinois Cavalry. Served as colonel in the regiment from Sept. 8, 1861, to June 1, 1862. Resigned as territorial chief justice in 1865.
3. Appointed in 1867; elected in 1868.
4. Named Chief Justice
5. Returned to being Associate Justice
6. Died while in office.
7. Named Chief Justice a second time
8. Served Again 1908-1915
9. Named Chief Justice a Third Time
10. Served again 1910-1919
11. Served from Jan. 7 to 21, 1915; died Jan. 21, 1915.
12. Acting Chief Justice Jan. 21 to 25, 1915.
13. Appointed Chief Justice Jan. 25, 1915, to fill vacancy created by death of Chief Justice Hollenbeck.
14. Appointed Nov. 12, 1938, to fill vacancy created by death of Chief Justice Goss. Term began Jan. 5, 1939.
15. Served as Chief Justice pro tempore from Sept. 18 to Dec. 22, 1978.
16. Resigned July 31, 1987.
17. Named Chief Justice Sept. 2, 1987, following resignation of Chief Justice Krivosha.
18. Named Chief Justice Jan. 26, 1995, to replace retiring Chief Justice Hastings.
19. Appointed Aug. 5, 1998, to replace retiring Chief Justice C. Thomas White.
20. Appointed Oct. 1, 2006, to replace retiring Chief Justice Hendry.
21. Elected in 1867 but died before he qualified.
22. Under the Nebraska Constitutions of 1866 and 1875, Supreme Court justices were elected by electors and not appointed by the Governor.
23. Appointed in 1878 to fill vacancy created by death of Chief Justice Gantt, then elected 1879.
24. Served Previously 1884-1890
25. Constitutional amendment approved in 1908 increased number of Supreme Court judges from three to seven. The governor appointed four judges, two to serve until successors were elected in the 1909 general election, and the other two to serve until successors were elected in the 1911 general election.
26. Served again from 1917-1935
27. Acting chief justice Jan. 21 to 25, 1915.
28. Was previously Chief Justice
29. Served Previously 1902-1908
30. Appointed chief justice Jan. 25, 1915, to fill vacancy created by death of Chief Justice Hollenbeck.
31. Served Previously 1909-1910
32. Appointed Nov. 16, 1918, to fill vacancy created by death of Judge Hamer. Aldrich died March 10, 1924.
33. Appointed April 21, 1920, to fill vacancy created by death of Judge Cornish.
34. Appointed Jan. 8, 1920, to fill vacancy created by death of Judge Sedgwick. Judge Day died Dec. 20, 1927.
35. Appointed April 15, 1924, to fill vacancy created by death of Judge Aldrich.
36. Appointed July 24, 1925, to fill vacancy created by death of Judge Evans.
37. Appointed Dec. 29, 1927, to fill vacancy created by death of Judge George A. Day.
38. Appointed Aug. 9, 1937, to fill vacancy created by death of Judge Good.
39. Appointed Nov. 28, 1938, to fill vacancy created by death of Judge L. B. Day. Term began Jan. 3, 1939. Resigned Nov. 8, 1940, upon appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
40. Appointed Nov. 18, 1940, to fill vacancy created by resignation of Judge Johnsen.
41. Retired.
42. Appointed March 13, 1961, to fill vacancy created by death of Judge Wenke.
43. Appointed to fill vacancy.
44. Appointed Jan. 6, 1977, to replace retiring Judge Newton.
45. Appointed Jan. 31, 1979, to replace retiring Judge Spencer.
46. Appointed Dec. 21, 1981, to replace retiring Judge Brodkey.
47. Appointed March 24, 1983, to fill vacancy created by death of Judge Clinton.
48. Resigned to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.
49. Appointed Sept. 1, 1983, to replace retiring Judge McCown.
50. Appointed Nov. 13, 1987, to fill vacancy created when Judge Hastings was named chief justice.
51. Appointed Oct. 14, 1992, to replace retiring Judge Grant.
52. Voters removed Judge Lanphier from the bench in 1996.
53. Appointed Jan. 27, 1994, to replace Judge Shanahan, who resigned to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.
54. Web site: Nebraska Supreme Court Justice John Wright dies following lengthy illness. Lori. Pilger. JournalStar.com.
55. Appointed Nov. 17, 1994, to replace retiring Judge Leslie Boslaugh.
56. Appointed April 20, 1995, to fill vacancy created when Judge C. Thomas White was named chief justice.
57. Appointed Jan. 27, 1997, to replace retiring Judge Farhnbruch.
58. Appointed Jan. 28, 1997, to fill vacancy created when voters removed Judge Lanphier from the bench.
59. Appointed chief justice Aug. 5, 1998, to replace retiring Chief Justice C. Thomas White.
60. Appointed Aug. 5, 1998, to replace retiring Judge Caporale.
61. Appointed April 26, 2012, to fill vacancy created by appointment of John M. Gerrard to the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.
62. Web site: Nebraska Supreme Court judge resigned after ethics complaint; sexual comments emerge | State and Regional News | omaha.com.
63. Web site: Ricketts' pick for Nebraska Supreme Court 'operating on higher level,' colleague says. Lori. Pilger. JournalStar.com.
64. Web site: Newly appointed Lancaster County judge tapped for seat on Nebraska Supreme Court. Riley. Johnson. JournalStar.com.