Nebraska State Treasurer

State Treasurer of Nebraska
Incumbent Joey Spellerberg since November 6, 2025
Seat	Lincoln
Appointer	Governor of Nebraska (if office is vacant)
Term length	4 years
Precursor	Treasurer of the Territory of Nebraska
Formation	1855 (Territorial) 1866 (State)
First holder	Benjamin P. Rankin (Territorial) Augustus Kountze (State)
Website	https://treasurer.nebraska.gov

The Nebraska Treasurer is the chief financial officer in the U.S. state of Nebraska. ^[1] The current treasurer is Joey Spellerberg, who has served as treasurer since November 6, 2025. ^[2]

The Treasurer of the State of Nebraska is the chief financial officer of the government of Nebraska. The treasurer is responsible for maintaining the state funds by investing and maintaining the state budget. The department's main purpose is to invest state funds and maintain accurate records of transactions enacted by the state. The state office also disperses funds to local governments as needed, keeps track of unclaimed property and helps with investments. ^[3]

List of territorial treasurers

No.	Treasurer	Term	Party
1	Benjamin P. Rankin [a]	1855	Democratic
2	William W. Wyman	1855–1861	Democratic [4] [5]
3	Augustus Kountze	1861–1867	Republican

List of state treasurers

Parties

   Republican (35)   Democratic (7)   Fusion (Democratic/Populist) (2)

No.	Image	Treasurer	Term	Party
1		Augustus Kountze [b]	1867–1869	Republican
2		James Sweet	1869–1871	Republican
3		Henry A. Koenig	1871–1875	Republican
4		James C. McBride [6]	1875–1879	Republican
5		George M. Bartlett	1879–1883	Republican
6		Phelps D. Sturdevant	1883–1885	Fusion [c]
7		Charles H. Willard	1885–1889	Republican
8		John E. Hill	1889–1893	Republican
9		Joseph S. Bartley	1893–1897	Republican
10		John B. Meserve	1897–1901	Fusion [d]
11		William Stuefer	1901–1903	Republican
12		Peter Mortensen	1903–1907	Republican
13		Lawson G. Brian [7]	1907–1911	Republican
14		Walter A. George	1911–1915	Republican
15		George E. Hall	1915–1919	Democratic
16		Daniel B. Cropsey	1919–1923	Republican
17		Charles D. Robinson	1923–1927	Republican
18		Willis M. Stebbins [8]	1927–1931	Republican
19		Truman W. Bass	1931–1933	Republican
–		George E. Hall [e]	1933–1936	Democratic
20		Horatio J. Murray [f] [9]	1936–1937	Democratic
21		Walter H. Jensen	1937–1939	Democratic
–		Truman W. Bass [g]	1939	Republican
22		John Havekost [h]	1939–1941	Democratic
23		Lucian B. Johnson [10] [11] [12]	1941–1943	Republican
24		Carl G. Swanson [i]	1943–1945	Republican
25		Edward Gillette [j]	1946–1951	Republican
26		Frank B. Heintze	1951–1955	Republican
27		Ralph W. Hill [k]	1955–1958	Republican
28		Bertha I. Hill [l]	1958–1959	Republican
29		Richard R. Larsen	1959–1961	Democratic
30		Clarence L. E. Swanson [m]	1961–1964	Republican
31		P. Merle Humphries [n]	1964–1965	Republican
32		Fred Sorensen	1965–1967	Democratic
33		Wayne R. Swanson	1967–1975	Republican
34		Frank Marsh [o]	1975–1981	Republican
35		Kay A. Orr [p]	1981–1987	Republican
–		Frank Marsh	1987–1991	Republican
36		Dawn E. Rockey	1991–1995	Democratic
37		David Heineman [q]	1995–2001	Republican
38		Lorelee Hunt Byrd [r]	2001–2004	Republican
39		Ron Ross [s]	2004–2007	Republican
40		Shane Osborn	2007–2011	Republican
41		Don Stenberg	2011–2019	Republican
42		John Murante [t] [u]	2019–2023	Republican
43		Tom Briese [v]	2023–2025	Republican
44		Joey Spellerberg [w]	2025–present	Republican

Notes

1. Appointed by Governor Francis Burt to serve until the 1855 general election.
2. Term began February 21, 1867.
3. Joint Anti-Monopolist and Democratic ticket.
4. Joint Populist-Democratic ticket.
5. Died Dec. 21, 1936.
6. In office Dec. 21, 1936, to Jan. 7, 1937.
7. Died Aug. 21, 1939.
8. In office Aug. 26, 1939, to 1941.
9. In office 1943 to Dec. 31, 1945.
10. Appointed by Governor Dwight Griswold to fill a vacancy on Jan. 1, 1946. Elected in November 1946.
11. Died July 13, 1958.
12. Appointed by Governor Victor E. Anderson to fill a vacancy in July 1958.
13. Died April 5, 1964.
14. Appointed by Governor Frank B. Morrison to fill a vacancy on April 10, 1964.
15. Resigned June 1981.
16. Appointed by Governor Charles Thone on June 15, 1981, to complete term of Frank Marsh, who resigned; elected Nov. 2, 1982.
17. Resigned Sept. 2001 to become the Lieutenant Governor.
18. Appointed by Governor Mike Johanns on Oct. 1, 2001, to complete term of David Heineman, who resigned to become Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska; elected Nov. 5, 2002. Resigned Jan. 6, 2004.
19. Appointed by Governor Mike Johanns on Jan. 6, 2004, to complete term of Lorelee Hunt Byrd, who resigned.
20. Resigned September 18, 2023, to become the director of the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems ^[13]
21. Governor Jim Pillen served officially as acting treasurer of Nebraska from Sept. 18, 2023 to Nov. 1, 2023, while assistant Nebraska treasurer Rachel Biar ran the office of the treasurer in the interim. ^[13]
22. Appointed by Governor Jim Pillen on Sept. 14, 2023, to take office on Nov. 1, 2023, to complete the term of John Murante. ^[13]
23. Appointed by Governor Jim Pillen on Nov. 3, 2025, and took office on Nov. 6, 2025, to complete the term of Tom Briese who resigned. ^[14]

References

1. State of Nebraska, 2020-2021 Nebraska Blue Book (PDF), pp. 422–424
2. "About the Treasurer". Nebraska State Treasurer. Retrieved November 6, 2025. Joey Spellerberg was sworn in as Nebraska's 47th State Treasurer, taking on the role of the state's chief financial officer on November 6, 2025.
3. "Nebraska Treasurer". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
4. "Territorial Candidates. Democratic Ticket". Nebraska Advertiser. September 1, 1859. Retrieved February 10, 2024. For Territorial Treasurer, William W. Wyman
5. "Democratic Territorial Ticket". The Omaha Nebraskian. October 8, 1959. For Territorial Treasurer, William W. Wyman.
6. "Republican Ticket". Omaha Daily Bee. September 8, 1874. p. 2.
7. "Brian Wants Another Office". The Lincoln Star. March 5, 1910. ...Lawson G. Brian, present state treasurer.
8. "Stebbins Will Begin Senate Campaign Soon". Grand Island Daily Independent. May 24, 1930. p. 3. Willis M. Stebbins, state treasurer...
9. "Permission To File Friendly Suit Is Asked". Grand Island Daily Independent. December 31, 1936. ...Horatio J. Murray, new state treasurer...
10. "Ex-Councilman L. B. Johnson Dies". Omaha World-Herald. October 16, 1956. p. 29. L. B. Johnson, 91, former Omaha City Councilman and state official, died Monday at a hospital. His home was at 6524 Florence Boulevard. Mr. Johnson was State Treasurer from 1940 [sic] to 1943, State Auditor from 1927 to 1931 and from 1906 to 1913 was a City Councilman, spending a portion of that time as president of the council.
11. "Who's Who on the Ballots". Omaha World-Herald. November 5, 1922. p. 9. Register of Deeds. Lucian B. Johnson, democrat; residence, 6524 Florence boulevard; ...member city council 1906-1912, during part of which time he was president of the board...
12. "Business Man Needed in Register's Office". Omaha World-Herald. November 5, 1922. p. 12. ...Lucian B. Johnson as their candidate... [with a] political record in the city council for six years, from 1906 to 1912, part of which time he was president of the council... L. B. Johnson is being urged by business men for the office of register of deeds.
13. Sanderford, Aaron (September 14, 2023). "Pillen appoints State Sen. Tom Briese as new state treasurer". Nebraska Examiner. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
14. Dvorak, Gina (November 3, 2025). "Fremont mayor to replace Nebraska state treasurer Tom Briese". KSNB Local 4. Retrieved November 3, 2025.