Nebraska Citation Lookup: Pay, Contest, or Ignore

A Nebraska citation lookup starts at the Judicial Branch’s online portal at nebraska.gov, where you can search by name, citation number, or the date the ticket was issued and see what you owe.¹ From there you have three real choices: pay the fine, set up installments, or appear in court on the date printed on the ticket to contest it. Doing nothing is not a fourth option, and the consequences of ignoring the citation escalate quickly.

How to Look Up Your Citation Online

The Nebraska Judicial Branch hosts the lookup tool at nebraska.gov. Enter your name, your citation number, or the issue date. You do not need to create an account, and the portal does not ask for a birth date.¹

Once your citation appears, you can review the charge, see the fine amount, and pay directly through the portal. Partial payments are accepted if you are working through an installment arrangement with the court.

If the portal returns nothing, the issuing court may not have entered your citation into the system yet. Give it a few days, then check again. If it still does not appear, call the county court listed on the paper citation the officer handed you.

Paying Your Citation

Paying promptly is the simplest way to keep the situation from escalating. Nebraska offers three payment methods:

Online through the Nebraska Judicial Branch portal at nebraska.gov. A convenience fee of roughly $1.25 to $2.95 applies per transaction.
By mail to the address listed on your citation or time payment agreement.
In person at the county court that has jurisdiction over your case.

The time payment agreement form issued by Nebraska courts confirms all three options.²

Remember that the fine on the ticket is not the full amount you owe. Court costs of $49 are added to the fine itself, so a ticket for going 12 mph over the limit runs $174 rather than $125.³ Speeding fines themselves are set by statute and tiered by how far over the limit you were driving:⁴

1–5 mph over: $50
6–10 mph over: $75
11–15 mph over: $125
16–20 mph over: $200
21–35 mph over: $300
More than 35 mph over: $400

Those fines double if you were speeding in a work zone with construction workers present or in a school crossing zone.⁴

If You Cannot Pay in Full

Nebraska law requires the court to consider your financial situation before demanding a lump-sum payment. At a hearing, you can present information about your income, assets, and debts. If the court finds you can pay in installments but not all at once, the judge will set a payment schedule with specific due dates.⁵

If the court determines you genuinely cannot pay at all, the judge must either impose a sentence without fines or discharge the fines entirely. Community service may also be ordered instead of fines or alongside an installment plan.⁵ Nebraska courts are not permitted to jail you simply because you are too poor to pay. The court must first find you have the ability to pay and are refusing.

Contesting Your Citation in Court

You have the right to contest any citation by appearing in court on the date printed on the ticket. Judges handle contested citations every day. There is no penalty for contesting and losing. If the court upholds the citation you pay the fine plus court costs and accept the points, which is where you would have ended up had you paid originally.

When you appear, you enter a plea. A not-guilty plea sets a trial date. At trial, the officer who issued the citation must appear and testify, and you can present your own evidence: witness statements, dashcam footage, photographs of the scene, anything relevant to your defense. If the officer does not appear, the court often dismisses the citation. A dismissal means you owe nothing and no points go on your record.

You are not required to hire an attorney. For a simple speeding ticket, most people represent themselves. For a citation carrying heavy points, potential license revocation, or something like reckless driving or a second DUI, an attorney who regularly practices in traffic court can be worth the cost.

What Happens If You Ignore the Citation

Ignoring a citation does not make it disappear. It creates two separate problems.

First, the court can issue a warrant for your arrest. Nebraska’s time payment agreement form states this plainly: fail to pay and fail to appear, and a warrant may be issued.² The warrant stays active until you deal with it, and it can turn a routine traffic stop into an arrest.

Second, for traffic citations, the court notifies the Department of Motor Vehicles that you failed to comply. The DMV then mails you a written notice giving you 20 working days to show the citation is resolved. Miss that window and the DMV summarily suspends your license.⁶ The suspension holds until you resolve the underlying citation and pay a $125 reinstatement fee.⁷ Driving on a suspended license is a new offense that adds more points to your record.

Unresolved citations also tend to raise auto insurance premiums, because insurers check driving records and outstanding violations register as risk.

Points on Your Driving Record

Every moving violation in Nebraska adds points to your license. Accumulate 12 points in any two-year window and your license is automatically revoked.⁸ Points count from the date of the violation, not the date of conviction, so contesting a ticket for months does not delay when it lands on your record if you lose.

How common violations stack up:

Speeding 1–5 mph over: 0 points
Speeding 6–10 mph over: 1 point on county, state, or interstate roads; 2 points in business and residential districts
Speeding 11–35 mph over: 2 to 3 points depending on road type
Speeding more than 35 mph over: 4 points
Careless driving: 4 points
Reckless driving: 5 points
Willful reckless driving: 6 points
DUI, first or second offense: 6 points
DUI, third or subsequent offense: 12 points, triggering automatic revocation
Leaving the scene of an accident: 6 points

Most other moving violations add 1 point.⁹

A first point-based revocation lasts six months. A second within five years jumps to three years.⁸ If you have fewer than 12 points on your record, you can voluntarily complete a DMV-approved driver improvement course of at least four hours to remove 2 points from violations assessed in the previous two years. This option is available once every five years, and you must finish the course before the violation that would push you to 12 points; it cannot be used retroactively after a revocation is triggered.⁹

One category of citation sits outside the traffic-points system entirely. Charges like minor in possession of alcohol and disturbing the peace are Class III misdemeanors, each carrying a maximum penalty of three months in jail, a $500 fine, or both.¹⁰¹¹ If you called 911 for someone experiencing a possible alcohol overdose and cooperated with first responders, Nebraska law provides immunity from criminal liability for the MIP offense. For non-traffic citations of this weight, talking to an attorney before your court date is usually the right call.

1
Nebraska Judicial Branch. Citation Information
2
Nebraska Judicial Branch. Time Payment Agreement Form CC 2:7
3
Nebraska Judicial Branch. Waiver/Fine Schedule
4
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 60-682.01 – Speed Limit Violations; Fines
5
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 29-2206 – Fine and Costs; Payment; Installments
6
Justia Law. Nebraska Code 60-4,100 – Suspension; When Authorized
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 60-499.01 – Reinstatement Fee
8
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. Point Revocations
9
Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles. Nebraska Point System
10
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 28-106 – Misdemeanors; Classifications; Penalties
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Justia Law. Nebraska Code 53-180.05 – Prohibited Acts Relating to Minors and Incompetents; Violations; Penalties