History of the Nebraska Judicial Branch

History of the Nebraska Judicial Branch

1854

First Chief Justice of the Territorial Court

Fenner Ferguson, first Chief Justice of the Territorial Nebraska Supreme Court, served 1854-1859. Nebraska's original Supreme Court, referred to as the Territorial Supreme Court, was established following the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Fifteen male judges comprised the bench of the Territorial Supreme Court. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenner_Ferguson

  • 1854-1859: First Judge of the territorial court: Fenner Ferguson (blue book)
  • The Nebraska Supreme Court had its origin in the Organic Act, which created the Nebraska Territory on May 30, 1854. This act declared that the Supreme Court shall consist of a chief justice and two associate judges.
1855

Nebraska State Library Established

The Nebraska State Library is the oldest public library in the state. In 1855 (before the territory of Nebraska became a state), Congress appropriated monies to the territory of Nebraska for library resources. In 1871, the Nebraska Legislature enacted a statute specifically relating to the creation of the Nebraska State Library. The State Library was separated into two sections, law and miscellaneous. The Legislature named the Clerk of the Supreme Court as the librarian and the judges of the Nebraska Supreme Court as the board of directors of the law collection. The Secretary of State was the librarian for the miscellaneous collection and the Governor, Secretary of State, and Auditor as the board of directors for the miscellaneous collection. Both collections were put under the supervision of the Supreme Court in 1913.

1866

Three-Member Nebraska Supreme Court Established through State Constitution

The first state constitution, adopted in 1866, provided for a supreme court to consist of a chief justice and two associate justices, elected for six-year terms. They were required to hold one term of court annually at the seat of government, and the state was divided into three judicial districts. In addition to the duty of hearing cases on appeal, rendering decisions, and preparing opinions in the Supreme Court, each justice acted as trial judge in the district court, which was the court of general law and equity jurisdiction. During the nine years this system prevailed, the state had only the Union Pacific main line and a few other short lines of railroad, touching but a few counties out of the territory now comprising ninety-three counties. It is recorded that some of the judges were required to travel ten thousand miles in a year going to and from their trial courts, most of which had to be done by stagecoach, by buckboard, or on horseback.

1867

First Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court

Chief Justice Oliver P. Mason Begins Term of Office 1867-1873

1868

Midnight Ride of the State Library from Omaha to Lincoln – moving the Territorial Library

The move of the territorial library began with a late-night trip to Omaha and the office of Silas A. Strickland, where the Auditor of Public Accounts, John Gillespie, ordered contents of the territorial library removed. Gillespie hired J.T. Beach of Lincoln to travel the many miles in search of the governmental records of the time. The year was 1868. The telling of the story of the State Library’s Midnight Ride from Omaha to Lincoln is written in the April 26, 1959, Sunday Lincoln Journal Star.

1873

Chief Justice George B. Lake Begins Term of Office

1873-1878, 1882-1884


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1867-1873, 1878-1882}

1878

Chief Justice Daniel Gantt Begins Term of Office 1878

{Served as Associate Term of Office 1873-1878}

Chief Justice Samuel Maxwell Begins Term of Office

1878-1882, 1886-1888, 1892-1894


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1873-1878, 1882-1886, 1888-1892}

1884

Chief Justice Amasa Cobb Begins Term of Office

1884-1886, 1890-1892


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1878-1884, 1886-1890}

1888

Chief Justice Manoah B. Reese Begins Term of Office

1888-1890, 1909-1915


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1884-1888, 1908-1909}

1893

First Native American Judge Elected to Bench

Hiram Chase became the first Native American judge in Nebraska when he was elected county judge of Thurston County.  He served one term. Chase was born on the Omaha reservation on September 9, 1861. His father, Hiram Chase, Sr., was a government inspector, and his mother, Nunzainza, was the granddaughter of Wahnookega, chief of the Omaha people.

1894

Chief Justice T.L. Norval Begins Term of Office

1894-1896, 1900-1902


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1890-1894, 1896-1900}

1896

Chief Justice Alfred M. Post Begins Term of Office

1896-1898


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1892-1896}

1898

Chief Justice T.O.C. Harrison Begins Term of Office

1898-1900


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1894-1898}

1902

Chief Justice John J. Sullivan Begins Term of Office

1902-1904


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1898-1902}

1904

Chief Justice Silas A. Holcomb Begins Term of Office

1904-1906


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1900-1904}

1906

Chief Justice Samuel H. Sedgwick Begins Term of Office

1906-1908


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1902-1906, 1910-1919}

1908

Chief Justice John B. Barnes Begins Term of Office

1908-1909


{Served as Associate Term of Office 1904-1907, 1909-1917}

1909

Supreme Court Expanded to Seven Judges

The Nebraska constitution was amended in 1908 to include a bench of six associate justices and one chief justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court.

First Justices of the Seven–Member Nebraska Supreme Court:

  • Manoah B. Reese, Chief Justice, 1909-1915 (serving second term)
  • John B. Barnes 1904-1917
  • Charles B. Letton 1906-1925
  • James R. Dean 1909-1910, 1917-1935
  • Jesse L. Root 1909-1911
  • Jacob Fawcett 1909-1917
  • William B. Rose 1909-1943

Through a joint resolution, in 1908 the House and Senate approved a constitutional amendment:

  • Supreme Court to consist of 7 judges
  • Judges elected by voters of the state at large for 6-year terms
  • Governor to appoint 4 judges, creating a 7-member court
  • Chief Justice to serve as chief during all the term for which elected (no rotation of chief justice position)
  • Set the salaries of the Supreme Court at $4,500, and the district court judges at $3,000, payable quarterly
1913

Nebraska Workmen’s Compensation Act

Legislation establishing a system for resolving claims of workplace injuries was first enacted in Nebraska in 1913 with the adoption of the Nebraska Workmen’s Compensation Act (the Act). From then until 1917, the Act was administered by the several state district courts. In 1917, the Nebraska Legislature created the Compensation Division within the Department of Labor and the commissioner of labor was designated compensation commissioner. 

1915

Chief Justice Conrad Hollenbeck Begins Term of Office

1915

{Died in office after less than one month of service}

Chief Justice Andrew M. Morrissey Begins Term of Office

1915-1927

1927

Chief Justice Charles A. Goss Begins Term of Office

1927-1938

1935

Three-Judge Workmen’s Compensation Court Designated

The 1935 Legislature established the three-judge Workmen’s Compensation Court and transferred Compensation Division functions to the court. That change was made to ensure stability through longer-tenured judges not subject to political changes and to provide a degree of specialization and expertise in a technical area.

1939

Chief Justice Robert G. Simmons Begins Term of Office

1939-1963

1960

Separate Juvenile Courts established in Nebraska

The people of Lancaster and Douglas Counties voted to establish separate juvenile courts as adopted by the 1959 Legislature under LB 127 and voted on by the electors in Lincoln and Omaha on November 8, 1960. Nebraska’s remaining counties hear juvenile matters in county courts. The juvenile courts have the same jurisdiction and procedures as the county courts when acting as juvenile courts. Seward L. Hart (Douglas County) and Wilfred W. Nuernberger (Lancaster County) became the first judges of the separate juvenile courts.

1962

Merit Plan for Judicial Selection Adopted

The Merit Selection Plan for judges was passed by the voters in November 1962. Merit Selection is the judicial selection system that best ensures that qualified individuals reach the bench without the influence of politics and money on the selection process. Originally, the plan applied only to the selection of judges to the Supreme Court and district courts. In 1974, this merit plan was statutorily extended to the selection of county court judges, and in 1990, it was applied to the judges of the newly-created Nebraska Court of Appeals. With the plan came the establishment of Judicial Nominating Commissions.

1963

Chief Justice Paul W. White Begins Term of Office

1963-1978

1966

Commission on Judicial Qualifications Established

Voters approved an amendment to the Constitution establishing the Commission on Judicial Qualifications in 1966. In 1967, the Legislature created the Commission pursuant to Article V, Sections 28 to 31 of the Nebraska Constitution. The goal of the judicial discipline process through the Qualifications Commission is to protect the public, the profession, and our system of justice from unethical conduct.

1970

Supreme Court Administrative Authority and County Court Consolidation

In 1970 the judicial article of the state constitution was amended resulting in several significant changes in the state court system. The amendment gave the Nebraska Supreme Court general administrative authority over all Nebraska courts, eliminated the constitutional basis for the justice of the peace, consolidated the local courts and other courts of limited jurisdiction to form a uniform county court system, and created the position of state court administrator. 

1971

First Female and First African American Judge Appointed

Judge Elizabeth “Betty” Davis Pittman was appointed by Gov. J. James Exon as a municipal court judge for the City of Omaha in 1971. She became the first woman and first African American person to be a judge for the State of Nebraska when she was appointed, serving from 1971 until 1986 on the Omaha Municipal Court.

1972

Restructuring of Nebraska Trial Court System in 1970: Supreme Court Authority and County Court Consolidation

The County Courts, Justice of Peace Courts, and Police Magistrate courts were combined in 1972. The present county court system (established in 1972) combines the previous functions of the 93 county courts, several hundred police courts, and several hundred justices of the peace. The 1972 change was the first major restructuring of Nebraska’s courts of limited jurisdiction since statehood was attained.

Betty Peterson Sharp First Female Appointed to District Court Bench

1973

Colleen R. Buckley Appointed First Female Separate Juvenile Court Judge

1976

Separate Juvenile Court Established in Sarpy County

The people of Sarpy County voted to establish a separate juvenile court in 1976.  Judge William D. Staley was first judge to take the bench.

1978

Chief Justice Norman Krivosha Begins Term of Office

1978-1987

1979

First Supreme Court Argument Session Held at Law School

Supreme Court held court sessions at Creighton Law School in 1979, establishing an ongoing tradition with both Nebraska Law Schools. In 1980 the Court sat at the University of Nebraska College of Law at the invitation of the Student Bar Association in celebration of Law Day.

First Chief Justice State of the Judiciary Address to the Legislature

The 86th Nebraska Legislature passed a resolution inviting Chief Justice Norman Krivosha to address the Unicameral annually regarding the condition of the state's courts. Chief Justice Krivosha gave his first address in 1979.

Cameras in Supreme Court Courtroom

Nebraska Supreme Court allowed news reporters video and still camera coverage of proceedings in the courtroom with attorney approval.

1985

Municipal Courts Merged into State Court System

Effective July 1, 1985, municipal court employees were transferred into the county court system, and municipal court probation employees were transferred into the state probation system.

1986

Renaming of Compensation Court

Workmen’s Compensation Court underwent name change to Workers’ Compensation Court through LB 811 (1986).

Probation Moved Under Authority of Supreme Court

The Legislature placed probation for district courts under the authority of the Nebraska Supreme Court effective July 1, 1986. LB 529 called for the Nebraska Probation System Committee to serve as an advisory committee until its duties were taken over by the Nebraska Probation Advisory Committee on July 1, 1988.