All judicial nominating commissions under Article V of the Constitution of Nebraska shall be subject to the provisions of sections 24-801 to 24-812.

All voting members of each nominating commission, before they enter upon their official duties, shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge my duties as a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission for the ........ Court, that I will neither accept nor receive, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing or any promise of office or assistance from any corporation, company, or person, for any vote or influence I may give or withhold in connection with the nomination of any person to a judicial vacancy; that I will, as necessary or expedient, encourage qualified candidates to accept judicial office or nomination for such judicial office, and that I will vote to nominate to judicial vacancies only candidates I believe are sufficiently qualified for judicial office". Such oath shall be administered by the Supreme Court Judge serving as chairperson of the judicial nominating commission to which the oath-taker is appointed.

Except for the judge of the Supreme Court who is required to be a member of a judicial nominating commission, each member or alternate member of a commission shall be a resident of the judicial district or area of the state served by such commission except as provided in subsection (2) of section 24-806. Except for the Chief Justice, the member of the Supreme Court designated to serve on a particular nominating commission shall not be a member who was originally selected from the district served by such nominating commission.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, as the term of a member of a judicial nominating commission initially appointed or selected expires, the term of office of each successor member shall be for a period of four years. The Governor shall appoint all successor members of each nominating commission who are judges of the Supreme Court and citizen members or alternate citizen members. The Governor shall appoint two alternate citizen members, not of the same political party, to each nominating commission. The term of office of an alternate citizen member of a commission shall be for a period of four years except that the initial appointments shall terminate on December 31, 1999. The lawyers residing in the judicial district or area of the state served by a judicial nominating commission shall select all successor and alternate lawyer members of such commission in the manner prescribed in section 24-806. The term of office of an alternate lawyer member of a commission shall be for a period of four years. No member of any nominating commission, including the Supreme Court member of any such commission, shall serve more than a total of eight consecutive years as a member of the commission, and if such member has served for more than six years as a member of the commission, he or she shall not be eligible for reelection or reappointment. Alternate lawyer and citizen members shall be selected to fill vacancies in their order of election or appointment.

(2) For purposes of this section and Article V, section 21, of the Constitution of Nebraska, a member of a judicial nominating commission shall be deemed to have served on such commission if he or she was a member of the commission at the time of the publication of the notice required by subsection (1) of section 24-810.

(3) Members of the judicial nominating commissions for the office of judge of the district court shall also serve as members of the judicial nominating commissions for the office of judge of the county court for counties located within the district court judicial districts served, except that members of the judicial nominating commissions for district judge and county judge in districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10 shall be appointed or selected separately to serve on such commissions.

Judges of the Supreme Court shall serve on as many judicial nominating commissions as may be necessary. Each judge of the Supreme Court shall be a member of at least three nominating commissions. The judge of the Supreme Court who serves as a member of a Supreme Court judicial nominating commission relating to a Supreme Court judicial district shall be a nonresident of that district. The Judge of the Supreme Court serving on a nominating commission for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall be a judge of the Supreme Court other than the Chief Justice.

Except for the Supreme Court members of judicial nominating commissions, no individual lawyer or citizen member of any judicial nominating commission shall serve on more than one judicial nominating commission at the same time; Provided, judicial nominating commissioners for the office of district judge may also serve as judicial nominating commissioners for county judge.

(1) Lawyer members and alternate lawyer members of any judicial nominating commission shall be members of the bar of the State of Nebraska and shall reside in the judicial district or area of the state served by the commission except as provided in subsection (2) of this section. Not more than two lawyer members of each commission shall be registered members of the same political party or category, and not more than two alternate lawyer members shall be registered members of the same political party or category. Nominations for lawyer members of each commission shall be solicited in writing by the Clerk of the Supreme Court from all the lawyers of the district or area served on or before September 1 of each even-numbered year. Nominations of lawyer members shall be made in writing and filed in the office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court on or before October 1 of each even-numbered year. Each nomination of a lawyer member shall be accompanied by a written consent of the nominee to serve as a member of the commission if elected. The nominations shall be solicited and distributed on the ballot by the Clerk of the Supreme Court from the legally recognized political parties and in such a manner as will permit the final selection to be made within the required political party.

(2) If solicited nominations are insufficient to provide candidates from the permissible political parties for each vacancy, the Executive Council of the Nebraska State Bar Association, within ten days after the last day for filing nominations, shall nominate additional candidates for the position so that there shall be a qualified candidate for each position. Such candidates need not reside in the judicial district or area served by such judicial nominating commission.

(3) The Clerk of the Supreme Court shall mail a ballot with the name of each nominee to all members of the bar of Nebraska residing in the judicial district or area designating a date at least ten days and not more than fourteen days after the date of such mailing by the Clerk of the Supreme Court when the ballots will be opened and counted. The ballots shall be counted by a board consisting of the Clerk of the Supreme Court, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General or by alternates designated by any of them to serve in his or her place. The Clerk of the Supreme Court shall insure that the election is so conducted as to maintain the secrecy of the ballot and the validity of the results. The candidate of the required political party receiving the highest number of votes shall be considered as having been elected to the commission. The candidate of the required political party receiving the next highest number of votes shall be considered as having been elected an alternate lawyer member of the commission and shall serve as a lawyer member of the commission in the event of a lawyer member vacancy of the same political party or category on the commission created either by resignation or disqualification. In the case of a resignation, an alternate lawyer member shall continue to serve as a member of the commission until the term of office of his or her predecessor expires.

(4) In any election when more than one lawyer member of a judicial nominating commission is to be elected, the nominees shall be submitted without designation of the term. Each voter shall be instructed to vote for as many nominees as there are vacancies to be filled. The candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be considered as having been elected for the longest term. The candidate receiving the next highest number of votes shall be deemed to have been elected for next to the longest term, and if an alternate lawyer member or members are to be elected, the candidate or candidates receiving the third and fourth highest number of votes shall be deemed elected as the alternate lawyer member or members. In case of ties the determination shall be made by lot by the counting board.

Upon the selection of any lawyer member or alternate lawyer member of any judicial nominating commission, the Clerk of the Supreme Court shall promptly certify his or her selection to the Governor and the Secretary of State.

Each year, on or before September 1, the Clerk of the Supreme Court shall determine what, if any, vacancies exist on any judicial nominating commission and shall report the status of each judicial nominating commission to the Governor. Vacancies relating to any members or alternate citizen members of such commissions appointed by the Governor shall be filled promptly by appointment by the Governor for the unexpired term. Vacancies of lawyer members or alternate lawyer members of the judicial nominating commission shall be filled promptly by a special election for the unexpired term, conducted by the Clerk of the Supreme Court in the manner applicable to the regular election of lawyer members of the commissions.

The judge of the Supreme Court on each judicial nominating commission shall be the chairperson of the commission and shall preside at all of its meetings. He or she shall not be entitled to vote. In selecting or rejecting judicial nominees, the members of the commission shall vote by oral roll call vote. When it is determined that a judicial vacancy exists in a particular district, the chairperson of the commission shall determine whether there will be eight qualified members of the appropriate judicial nominating commission, including alternate members. If it is determined that there will not be eight members present and capable of voting at the time the commission meets to vote, the chairperson of the commission shall inform the Governor of the number of citizen members which need to be appointed and shall inform the Executive Director of the Nebraska State Bar Association of the number of lawyer members which need to be elected. The Governor shall promptly make such number of citizen appointments as are necessary. The Executive Council of the Nebraska State Bar Association shall nominate at least one lawyer candidate for each vacancy on the nominating commission which needs to be filled. If the Executive Council is unable, with reasonable effort, to obtain a sufficient number of candidates for each vacancy, it may nominate candidates who do not reside in the judicial district or area served by such nominating commission. The nominations shall be sent to the Clerk of the Supreme Court, and the lawyer vacancies shall be filled by election as provided in section 24-806. There shall be eight qualified commission members present and capable of voting at the time the vote is taken. In the event that a nominating commission public hearing is postponed due to the lack of a full complement of commission members entitled to vote, the time limits specified in subsection (4) of section 24-810 shall be extended for an additional thirty days for each such postponement. The chairperson of the commission shall cause appropriate notice of the time and place of the newly scheduled judicial nominating commission public hearing to be published as provided in subsection (1) of section 24-810. The postponement of a commission hearing shall not extend the initial application filing deadline of twenty-one days prior to the initial public hearing. Each candidate shall receive five votes from the voting members of the nominating commission to have his or her name submitted to the Governor.

For purposes of sections 24-809.05 and 24-810, the date of a final determination of a district, county, or separate juvenile court judicial vacancy shall be:

(1) The date a judicial vacancy is determined by the Judicial Resources Commission pursuant to section 24-1204 or 24-1206; or

(2) If a determination is made by the commission that a move of a judgeship from one district to another or between county and district court, a new judgeship, or a change in number of judicial districts or boundaries is appropriate pursuant to section 24-1204 or 24-1205, the date the Governor approves legislation or the Legislature overrides a veto of legislation creating or moving a judicial vacancy.

If a final determination of a district or county court judicial vacancy is made, the Supreme Court shall, after consultation with a representative sampling of the lawyers of the judicial district, determine and announce the county where the primary office for the judgeship shall be located. In designating a primary office, the Supreme Court shall locate judges so as to provide maximum service to all areas of the judicial district. If more than one county is acceptable as a primary office, the Supreme Court may so state and may leave the final choice of the location of the primary office to the judge. The Supreme Court may, after consultation with a representative sampling of the lawyers of the judicial district, relocate a district or county court judge within his or her judicial district. The Supreme Court may pay reasonable moving expenses of a judge when so relocated. The principal criterion used by the Supreme Court when designating a primary office and in relocating judges within a judicial district shall be the judicial workload statistics compiled by the State Court Administrator pursuant to section 24-1007.

(1) When a final determination of a district, county, or separate juvenile court judicial vacancy has been made pursuant to section 24-809.04 or in the event of a judicial vacancy in any other court, the Clerk of the Supreme Court shall contact the chairperson of the judicial nominating commission relating to such vacancy and shall ascertain from him or her a time and place for the first meeting of such judicial nominating commission, at which time a public hearing will be held. The first public hearing shall be held within sixty days after final determination of the vacancy occurs. The chairperson shall notify each commission member in writing of the time and place of the meeting and shall also cause appropriate notice to be published by various news media of the time and place of the public hearing of the judicial nominating commission and of the interest of the commission in receiving information relating to qualified candidates for the judicial vacancy. Any lawyer meeting the statutory requirements to serve as a judge who is interested in being nominated and appointed to such judgeship shall signify his or her interest by filing the appropriate application with the proper entity at least twenty-one days prior to the public hearing. At least ten days prior to the public hearing, the chairperson shall release to the public the names of all lawyers who have applied for such judgeship. Any member of the public shall be entitled to attend the public hearing to express, either orally or in writing, his or her views concerning candidates for the judicial vacancy.

(2) After the public hearing, the judicial nominating commission shall hold such additional private or confidential meetings as it determines to be necessary. Additional information may be submitted in writing to the commission at any time prior to its selection of qualified candidates to fill the vacancy. The commission shall make such independent investigation and inquiry as it considers necessary or expedient to determine the qualifications of candidates for the judicial vacancy and shall take such action as it deems necessary or expedient to encourage qualified candidates to accept judicial office or nomination for judicial office.

(3) The judicial nominating commission may, before or after the hearing provided for in subsection (1) of this section, institute a search for additional candidates. If additional candidates are obtained, the commission shall hold further public hearings in the same manner as provided in such subsection.

(4) The names of candidates shall be submitted to the Governor within ninety days after the date a final determination has been made of a district, county, or separate juvenile court judicial vacancy or, in the event of a judicial vacancy in any other court, after a judicial vacancy occurred if one public hearing is held and within one hundred twenty days if more than one public hearing is held.

(1) For purposes of sections 24-801 to 24-812.01, members and prospective members of judicial nominating commissions who are registered as independent voters shall be considered to be members of the same political party.

(2) Removal from the State of Nebraska or a change in party registration shall automatically terminate the tenure of any member of a judicial nominating commission.

It shall be unlawful and a breach of ethics for any judge, public officeholder, lawyer or any other person or organization to attempt to influence any judicial nominating commission in any manner and on any basis except by presenting facts and opinions relevant to the judicial qualifications of the proposed nominees to an individual member of the commission or to the commission acting as a body, at or prior to the time of the public hearing. Violation of this section shall be considered as contempt of the Supreme Court of the State of Nebraska and shall be punishable as for contempt or by appropriate discipline with respect to any member of the bar involved in any such unlawful or unethical conduct.

Any judicial nominating commission which has for its consideration three or more candidates for a judicial vacancy shall nominate at least three candidates for consideration by the Governor if the commission, in its discretion, finds them to be sufficiently qualified. In determining whether a candidate is sufficiently qualified to be nominated for a judicial vacancy, a judicial nominating commission shall consider the candidate's knowledge of the law, experience in the legal system, intellect, capacity for fairness, probity, temperament, industry, and such other factors relating to judicial quality as the Supreme Court may by rule promulgate.

Within thirty days after the list of nominees for a judicial vacancy is presented to the Governor by a judicial nominating commission, the chairperson of the commission shall prepare and send to the State Court Administrator a report containing the following:

(1) Names of all candidates for the judicial vacancy;

(2) Copies of all applications submitted by candidates; and

(3) The names of the candidates nominated for the judicial vacancy.

Such report shall be available to the public and shall be preserved by the State Court Administrator for ten years.

All communications between members of judicial nominating commissions and between any member of the commission and any prospective candidate for judicial office and all other communications with members of the commission except those at the public hearing, shall be confidential. Additionally, all such communications including those at the public hearing shall be privileged from use in any legal action, except one charging misconduct in office of a member of a judicial nominating commission or one involving contempt of court, or misconduct of an attorney, based on such communication.

The Supreme Court shall promulgate rules regarding procedures to be followed in the nominating procedure, including the type of application to be filed, the type of presentation an applicant may make at the public hearing, factors, if any, other than those specifically described in section 24-811.01 relating to judicial quality for commission members to consider in determining whether a candidate is sufficiently qualified to be nominated, and such other rules as it feels will induce qualified lawyers to seek judicial office, and which will otherwise promote the true spirit of the judicial selection process now used in this state.