Pillen announces Jeffrey Funke as next chief justice

Governor Jim Pillen announced Friday he is appointing Nebraska Supreme Court Judge Jeffrey Funke to be the next chief justice.

Funke will succeed current Chief Justice Mike Heavican, who is retiring at the end of the month.

In the announcement ceremony at the state Capitol, Heavican praised Funke, who has served on the Supreme Court for eight years, for his work on probation, problem solving courts, and expanding the use of cameras in the state’s courtrooms.

For his part, Funke praised the work of the 1,500 people in the judicial branch he will now head, including judges, staff, public guardians, and those who work in probation and trial court services.

“Whatever success we have had in the past or we may have in the future, I owe it all to the work of those people, and I'm looking forward to tapping those resources in the next few years as I take on this responsibility,” he said.

Funke, 55, graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1994. He served as a private attorney, deputy public defender, Otoe County judge, and district court before joining the Supreme Court in 2016. His elevation to chief justice means there will now be a vacancy in southeast Nebraska’s Fifth Judicial District, which Pillen will fill from a list of names to be forwarded by the Judicial Nominating Commission.