How to Find Nebraska Court Records (2026)

Nebraska court records at a glance
Statewide case search	JUSTICE Court Case Search (Nebraska.gov)
Criminal history check	Nebraska State Patrol Criminal History Record Check
Appellate opinions	Nebraska Appellate Courts Online Library
Federal cases	PACER (1 district)
Plain copy fee	County Court: $0.25 per page (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 33-126.05). District Court: set by each clerk under § 33-106; no statewide per-page rate
Certified copy fee	County Court: $1.00 for executing a certificate and affixing the seal, $3.00 for a three-seal authenticated certificate (§ 33-126.05), plus the per-page copy charge. District Court: per clerk
Who keeps trial records	Clerk of the Supreme Court (case records in SCCALES; opinions in the Appellate Courts Online Library); Clerk of the Court of Appeals (case records in SCCALES; opinions in the Appellate Courts Online Library)

Nebraska keeps trial-court files with the clerk of the court that heard the case, in the county where it was filed. The Clerk of the District Court in each of Nebraska's 93 counties holds felony criminal files, divorces and other family cases, larger civil suits, and most probate matters. The County Court clerk — a separate office in the same courthouse — holds misdemeanors, traffic infractions, small claims, and, in some counties, probate.

Nebraska is unusual among states in running a single statewide case-management system, JUSTICE, that covers all trial-level criminal, civil, traffic, juvenile, and probate cases in all 93 counties. There is no separate county-by-county portal to hunt down: the same JUSTICE system is what every clerk's office uses, and the public can search it online for a per-search fee or for free at a courthouse terminal or participating law library. Appellate case records for the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals live in a companion system called SCCALES.

The most common mistake is expecting a free, instant online lookup the way some larger states offer. Nebraska's JUSTICE one-time search charges a fee per search whether or not it finds a match, and it only returns up to 30 results with a short viewing window. Anyone doing more than an occasional search, or who wants to avoid the fee, should use a free public-access terminal at the county courthouse or at a participating library instead.

How Nebraska courts are organized

Which court heard a case decides who keeps the file. Use this table to pick the right clerk before you search, and see the guides to criminal, civil, family, and probate records for what each court's file contains.

Court	Handles	Who holds the records
Supreme Court of Nebraska	Final civil and criminal appeals Attorney discipline and bar admission Original jurisdiction in certain writs	Clerk of the Supreme Court (case records in SCCALES; opinions in the Appellate Courts Online Library) Nebraska's highest court hears both civil and criminal appeals, unlike states that split the two.
Court of Appeals	Intermediate appeals from district and county courts Cases assigned or transferred from the Supreme Court	Clerk of the Court of Appeals (case records in SCCALES; opinions in the Appellate Courts Online Library)
District Courts (12 judicial districts)	Felony criminal cases Divorce, custody, and other domestic-relations cases Civil suits over $57,000 Probate and estate matters in most counties	Clerk of the District Court of the county Nebraska's 93 counties are grouped into 12 judicial districts; every county still has its own district clerk and courthouse file.
County Courts (one per county)	Misdemeanors and traffic infractions Civil cases up to $57,000 and small claims Preliminary hearings in felony cases Probate in counties where the county court has assumed it	Clerk Magistrate / Court Clerk of the County Court County Court is a separate clerk's office from the District Court clerk, usually in the same courthouse.
Separate Juvenile Courts (Douglas, Lancaster, Sarpy counties)	Juvenile delinquency Abuse and neglect Termination of parental rights	Clerk of the Separate Juvenile Court Elsewhere in the state, juvenile matters are handled by the county or district court sitting as a juvenile court.
Workers' Compensation Court	Workplace injury claims statewide	Clerk of the Workers' Compensation Court A statewide specialty court, not organized by county.

Search Nebraska court records online

Statewide case search

JUSTICE Court Case Search (Nebraska.gov)

Official Paid Account required

Cost: $17 per one-time search (charged even if no match is found), or a $100/year Nebraska.gov subscriber account with $2 per case-detail view
Coverage: Criminal, civil, traffic, juvenile, and probate case information from all 93 Nebraska county and district courts, the same system every clerk's office uses
Records: Civil, Criminal, Family, Probate, Traffic

A one-time search returns up to 30 name matches and stays viewable for three calendar days; there is roughly a 24-hour lag before new filings appear. Document images are generally available only for documents filed after April 16, 2008. Free access is available at any courthouse public terminal or at a participating law library (Nebraska State Library, UNL's Schmid Law Library, Creighton's Klutznick Law Library).

Criminal history (convictions)

Nebraska State Patrol Criminal History Record Check

Official Paid

Cost: $45.00 per name-based request submitted online, by mail, or in person
Coverage: Statewide, name- and date-of-birth-based Record of Arrest and Prosecution (fingerprint-based arrests and their outcomes) maintained by the Nebraska State Patrol
Records: Criminal

Requires the subject's name, date of birth, sex, and race at minimum; a social security number or driver's license number can speed processing. The fee is non-refundable regardless of whether a record is found. This is a state repository search, separate from the county-by-county JUSTICE case search.

Appellate courts

Nebraska Appellate Courts Online Library

Official Free search

Cost: Free for published opinions; case docket detail through SCCALES follows the same $17 one-time-search / $100-a-year subscription fees as JUSTICE
Coverage: Published opinions of the Nebraska Supreme Court and Court of Appeals; case dockets for both courts are kept in the SCCALES system
Records: Appeals

SCCALES (the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals case-management system) does not have a separate public search page; docket and party information is reached the same way as JUSTICE, through a Nebraska.gov one-time search or subscriber account, or for free at a courthouse terminal or participating law library.

Federal court records in Nebraska

Federal cases (bankruptcy, federal crimes, lawsuits under federal law) are not in state portals. They live in PACER, organized by district. Nebraska has 1 federal judicial district.

District	Main courthouse	Court website
District of Nebraska	Omaha	www.ned.uscourts.gov

Read our PACER guide for registration, the per-page fee, and the quarterly fee waiver.

Nebraska county court records

Trial-court records are kept by the clerk in the county where the case was filed. These are the largest counties in Nebraska; each guide covers the clerk of the district court and other court offices, their addresses, and what is searchable online.

Request records in person or by mail

In person. Go to the clerk of the court that heard the case: the Clerk of the District Court for district-court files, the County Court clerk for county-court files. Every county courthouse has a free JUSTICE public-access terminal for searching the index yourself; bring the case number if you have it, or the party names and an approximate filing year. Copies are paid at the counter, usually by cash, check, or card depending on the county.

By mail. Write to the clerk with the case number (or party names and year), which documents you need, whether you need plain or certified copies, and a check or money order for the fee — call first to confirm the current per-page and certification amounts, since Nebraska's fee statute (§ 33-106) sets a framework but individual clerks post their own current schedules. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return.

Online. The statewide JUSTICE system lets anyone run a one-time search for a flat per-search fee, or set up a Nebraska.gov subscriber account for frequent searches. Neither service delivers certified copies; those still have to be requested from the clerk.

Records older than the online index. JUSTICE covers case information statewide, but document images are generally only available for filings after April 16, 2008. Older files are on paper or microfilm at the courthouse, and the clerk may need to pull them from off-site storage.

Fees

Item	Typical cost
Plain copy	County Court: $0.25 per page (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 33-126.05). District Court: set by each clerk under § 33-106; no statewide per-page rate
Certified copy	County Court: $1.00 for executing a certificate and affixing the seal, $3.00 for a three-seal authenticated certificate (§ 33-126.05), plus the per-page copy charge. District Court: per clerk

The Nebraska Judicial Branch fee schedule (effective 07-01-2026) lists county-court photocopies at $0.25 per page and certification at $1.00 per seal under § 33-126.05. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 33-106 entitles the clerk of the district court to a fee for each copy or transcript and for the certificate, but does not fix a per-page amount, so district clerks post their own rates; confirm with the specific clerk before mailing payment.

Need a copy an agency will accept? See how to get certified copies of court records.

Sealed, expunged, and restricted records

Nebraska court records are presumed open under the public-records framework in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-712, but several categories are not visible in JUSTICE or at the courthouse counter:

No general expungement for adults. Nebraska does not erase or destroy adult criminal convictions. Instead, an eligible person can petition to have a conviction set aside under §§ 29-2264 and 29-3523 after completing a sentence or probation. A set-aside removes some civil disabilities and notes the record as set aside, but the case record itself is not deleted from the court file.
Sealing for dismissed charges and diversion. Records where charges were dismissed, resulted in acquittal, or were resolved through a completed diversion program can, in defined circumstances, be sealed from public view.
Juvenile records. Records of the separate juvenile courts (Douglas, Lancaster, and Sarpy counties) and juvenile matters handled by county/district courts elsewhere are confidential with narrow statutory exceptions.
Certain family and protection-order matters. Sensitive identifying information in domestic-relations and protection-order cases is restricted even though the underlying case is otherwise a public record.

Court employees will search the index and confirm what is on file, but Nebraska's court records search policy specifically bars clerks from certifying that "no record" exists for a person — they can only report what the search returns. Requests to seal or set aside a record are made to the court that handled the case, not through a general public-records request.

To remove your own record from public view, read how to expunge or seal a criminal record.

Frequently asked questions

Is there one statewide website to search Nebraska court records?

Yes. Nebraska's JUSTICE system covers criminal, civil, traffic, juvenile, and probate case information from all 93 county and district courts. A one-time search costs $17 whether or not it finds a match; frequent users can set up a Nebraska.gov subscriber account instead.

Is there a free way to search Nebraska court records?

Yes. JUSTICE and the appellate SCCALES system are both free to search at a public-access terminal in any county courthouse, and at a few participating law libraries, including the Nebraska State Library and the UNL and Creighton law libraries.

How do I find out if someone has a criminal record in Nebraska?

For a name-based statewide record from the state repository, request a criminal history check from the Nebraska State Patrol for $45. For pending charges or case-by-case detail, search JUSTICE or check with the district or county court clerk in the counties where the person has lived.

Which clerk has my divorce record in Nebraska?

Divorces are filed in district court, so the Clerk of the District Court in the county where the case was filed keeps the record. County courts do not hear divorces.

Can a Nebraska criminal conviction be expunged?

Nebraska does not offer general expungement for adult convictions. Eligible people can petition to have a conviction set aside under Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-2264 and 29-3523 after completing their sentence, which restores some rights but does not erase the court record.

How do I get a certified copy of a Nebraska court record?

Request it from the clerk of the court that handled the case, in person or by mail, and ask for a certified rather than a plain copy. Fees are set by each clerk under state fee statute, so call ahead to confirm the amount.

Sources

Nebraska Judicial Branch — Nebraska Court Structure — https://nebraskajudicial.gov/nebraska-court-structure
Nebraska Judicial Branch — Case Information (eServices) — https://nebraskajudicial.gov/e-services/case-information-eservices
JUSTICE Court Case Search (Nebraska.gov) — https://www.nebraska.gov/justicecc/ccname.cgi
Nebraska Judicial Branch — Court Records Search Policy for Nebraska Courts — https://nebraskajudicial.gov/rules/administrative-policies-schedules/court-records-search-policy-nebraska-courts
Nebraska State Patrol — Criminal History Record Requests — https://statepatrol.nebraska.gov/services/criminal-history-record-requests
Nebraska Appellate Courts Online Library — https://www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/
Nebraska Revised Statute § 84-712 — Public records; free examination; copies; fees — https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=84-712
Nebraska Revised Statute § 33-106 — Clerk fees — https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=33-106
Nebraska Revised Statute § 33-126.05 — County court; miscellaneous fees — https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=33-126.05
Nebraska Judicial Branch — Filing Fees and Court Costs — https://nebraskajudicial.gov/rules/administrative-policies-schedules/fees
Nebraska Revised Statute § 29-2264 — Set aside of conviction — https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=29-2264
U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska — https://www.ned.uscourts.gov/