Julie Davis
jdavis@cherryroad.com

The Nebraska Supreme Court and the state Court of Appeals review more than 1,200 cases annually. Of those, the state Supreme Court reviews 250, and every seventh case is reviewed by Justice Jeffrey Funke and his staff of two clerks.

Justice Funke visited the Nebraska City Rotary Club on Aug. 7 to discuss how the state court system works and what he has learned since he was Otoe County’s first deputy public defender from 1994 to 1997.

Funke, who also served three years as the Richardson County deputy public defender at the same time, served as Otoe County Deputy Attorney from 1997 to 2005, and as Otoe County Attorney from 2005 to 2007 before being appointed as Judge of the County Court for the 2nd Judicial District, serving Cass, Sarpy, and Otoe counties, in 2007.

In 2013, Justice Funke was appointed Judge of the District Court for the 2nd Judicial District, and in

2016, he was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court, 5th Judicial District, where he continues to serve today.

Justice Funke credited his mentor, the Honorable Randall Rehmeier, who is a retired Nebraska District Court judge, with helping him throughout his career.

“If I follow him, I’ll be very fortunate,” Funke said in discussing his opportunity to take over Rehmeier’s courtroom when Rehmeier retired in 2013. Funke added that everyone needs a mentor to model their lives after.

Justice Funke said that he and his fellow Nebraska Supreme Court justices review their collective 250 cases looking for “novel legal issues” on which to comment. He said the justices look to legislative history to determine if there is any ambiguity in laws written by the Unicameral.

“The issues we see are pretty nuanced,” he said.

The state Supreme Court also reviews any death penalty cases, as well as those involving life imprisonment or murder charges, said Justice Funke.