The court system in the state of Nebraska is made up of district courts, a supreme court as well as courts with limited jurisdiction. Limited jurisdiction courts include juvenile, county, workers' compensation and municipal courts. The state archives sector of the Nebraska State Historical Society collects court records.

For the most part, Nebraska court records are accessible to the public for research. Some Nebraska court records that may not be available include adoption records, psychiatric evaluations and investigation files that were not used in open court when the case was heard.

Understanding Nebraska Court Jurisdictions

In order to narrow your search for Nebraska court records, it would help to know in which jurisdiction the case was heard. The Supreme Court hold original jurisdiction over revenue and civil cases in the state of Nebraska. In addition, the Supreme Court also has authority over election contests that involve the state officers, except the state senators.

The Supreme Court also has the responsibility of handling cases that involve the constitutionality of statutes. In addition, this court also hears appeals for criminal and civil cases from the lower courts in the state, which are:

·         The Court of Appeals
This is an intermediate appellate court, like you would find in many other states. The Court of Appeals in Nebraska was established in September of 1991, following an amendment to the constitution that was passed in the general election of 1990. It was built to alleviate the backlog of appeals that were pending before the Nebraska Supreme Court, and to speed up the process of reviewing the decisions of the lower courts. The Court of Appeals hears all criminal and civil appeals, excluding cases that involve death sentencing, the constitutionality of statute or life imprisonment. A petition may be filed in order to bypass review by the Court of Appeals and go directly to the Supreme Court.

·         The District Court
The trial court with general authority is the district court. The district court handles all civil and felony cases that are valued at more than $10,000. In addition, the district court hears divorce cases as well as appeals for cases from the county courts. This court can hear misdemeanor cases, even though they are usually heard on a county level. Nebraska has forty-eight district court judges under twenty-one judicial districts. The district courts serve all ninety-three counties in the state. A clerk is elected for each county to handle the court records for that county.

·         The County Court
This court has limited jurisdiction, hearing primarily civil cases under $10,000, municipal ordinance violations, small claims and misdemeanor cases. The county court has original jurisdiction over matters of conservatorship, eminent domain, guardianship, adoption and probate. Juvenile cases are also heard on the county level if there is no separate juvenile court in said county. A judge appoints a clerk magistrate in each county to act as the local court administrator, accepting pleas in traffic cases and misdemeanor cases, setting bail and performing a number of additional judicial services.

You can gain access to Nebraska court records through a several different methods. However, the best approach is to find the records through the specific court where the case in question was heard.

• Nebraska State Court Districts

• Nebraska State Legislature