Nebraska public court records are searchable online through the state’s JUSTICE system, which covers cases from all 93 county and district courts. A single name search costs $17 and returns up to 30 matches, with full case details included at no extra charge.1Nebraska Judicial Branch. Case Information – eServices Federal cases and appellate opinions live in separate systems, and some categories of records are closed to the public entirely.
What You Can Find in JUSTICE
JUSTICE (Judicial User System to Improve Court Efficiency) is the state’s centralized database for trial court records. It includes criminal, civil, traffic, juvenile, and probate cases filed in county and district courts.2Nebraska.gov. JUSTICE Search – One-Time Case Search
County courts handle misdemeanors, traffic infractions, small claims, probate, guardianship, conservatorship, and adoption. They also run preliminary hearings in felony cases before those cases move up to district court for trial.3Nebraska Judicial Branch. County Court District courts handle felonies, larger civil disputes, and divorces.
Two things JUSTICE does not cover: the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court, which maintains its own records at newcc.gov, and the state’s appellate courts, which post opinions through a separate library. Vital records — birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses — are not court records at all. Those come from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.4Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Vital Records
Running a Search Online
JUSTICE searches by party name. You cannot search by date of birth or Social Security number.2Nebraska.gov. JUSTICE Search – One-Time Case Search Partial names work, and the state recommends starting broad and adding filters only if the first pass returns more than 30 matches.
If you already have a case number, that’s the fastest route. Otherwise, narrowing by county helps a lot with common names. Knowing the type of matter — felony (district court), misdemeanor (county court), or civil dispute — lets you pick the right court filter.
The One-Time Search is the simplest option. Enter a name, choose the court type, pay $17 by credit card, and the system returns up to 30 matches. You can then open any of those cases in full at no additional cost.1Nebraska Judicial Branch. Case Information – eServices Searches that turn up nothing still cost $17.
Cheaper Ways to Search
County and district courthouses have public terminals in the clerk’s office that let you search JUSTICE without paying the online fee. They’re available during regular business hours. If you need paper copies, staff can print them, generally at $0.25 to $0.50 per page. Certified copies bearing the clerk’s seal cost more, and the exact amount varies by county, so call ahead if you need to budget.
Most requests are filled the same day. Archived or oversized files can take several business days to retrieve.
If you search often, becoming a Nebraska.gov subscriber changes the math. Subscribers pay $2.00 per case detail view rather than $17 per search.5Nebraska.gov. Nebraska.gov Subscriber That structure pays off quickly if you look up more than a couple of cases a month.
Federal Cases Are in PACER, Not JUSTICE
Federal criminal cases, federal civil suits, and bankruptcy filings from the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska are not in JUSTICE. They’re accessed through PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records), the nationwide federal system.6United States District Court. District of Nebraska – CM/ECF and PACER Login
PACER charges $0.10 per page, capped at $3.00 per document. Audio recordings of hearings cost $2.40 each. Billing is quarterly, and if your total usage in a quarter stays at $30 or below, the fees are waived.7PACER: Federal Court Records. PACER Pricing – How Fees Work A one-time check on a single federal case usually costs nothing.
The federal courthouses in Omaha and Lincoln also have public terminals. Printing at the Lincoln courthouse requires credit card, check, or money order; no cash.8United States District Court. District of Nebraska – Accessing Case Information
Appellate Opinions Are Free
Opinions from the Nebraska Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals are available at no charge through the Nebraska Appellate Courts Online Library, a system separate from JUSTICE.9Nebraska.gov. Nebraska Appellate Courts Online Library You can browse by court or search all opinions at once. Advance opinions — those not yet finalized — stay posted for 90 days, at which point the certified version replaces them in the permanent library.
Records You Won’t Find
Nebraska defaults to open court records, but several categories are closed by statute. If a case in JUSTICE shows limited information or a sealed notation, one of the restrictions below is usually the reason. Getting access requires petitioning the court directly.
- Juvenile court records. Medical, psychological, psychiatric, and social welfare reports in juvenile proceedings are not open without a court order. Docket entries other than pleadings, orders, decrees, and judgments are treated as confidential. A judge can also seal a juvenile record entirely, after which no information may be released.10Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statute 43-2108 – Juvenile Court Record Case File
- Adoption records. Permanently closed to the public. Access requires a court order for good cause or eligibility under the statutes governing birth parent searches.
- Mental health commitment records. Confidential under Nebraska law, available only to a narrow list that includes the subject, their attorney, their guardian, and anyone with a court order.11Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statute 71-961
- Sealed records in other contexts. Judges can seal filings to protect trade secrets in litigation or to keep protection order details from endangering a party.