Trespassing in Nebraska: Degrees, Penalties, and Civil Liability

Trespassing in Nebraska is a criminal misdemeanor that comes in two degrees: first degree covers entering a building or occupied structure without permission and carries up to a year in jail, while second degree covers entering any other place where the owner has given notice against entry and carries up to three months, or up to six months if you refuse an order to leave. Property owners can also sue trespassers in civil court for damages or an injunction, separate from any criminal case.

First Degree: What It Covers

First degree is the more serious charge. You commit it by entering or secretly remaining inside a building or occupied structure when you know you have no right to be there.¹ An occupied structure is any space where someone might live or work: a house, an apartment, an office, or any separately secured portion of a larger building. The statute also catches people who enter lawfully and then stay after being told to leave.

The element the prosecution has to prove is knowledge. If you genuinely wandered in by mistake, that isn’t first degree trespass, though a locked door or a clearly marked entry makes that argument hard to sell.

First degree also reaches unauthorized entry onto public power infrastructure: power plants, electrical stations, substations, and similar facilities operated by a public power supplier, as long as the facility is fenced or otherwise enclosed.¹ Entry there carries the same Class I misdemeanor penalty as entering a building.

Second Degree: What It Covers

Second degree covers entering or remaining in any place where notice against trespassing has been given, when you know you lack permission.² The statute says “any place,” but in practice these charges involve fields, pastures, vacant lots, and other land that isn’t a building, because entering a building triggers the more serious first degree charge instead.

The dividing line between the degrees is notice. First degree does not require a warning; your knowledge that you weren’t allowed inside is enough. Second degree requires proof the owner communicated that entry was off-limits.

Drones

Nebraska also treats certain drone activity as second degree trespass. If you knowingly fly an unmanned aircraft onto or above someone else’s property intending to observe that person without consent in a private setting, you commit the offense.² The provision targets voyeuristic surveillance; the prosecution must show you intended to watch someone in a place of solitude or seclusion.

How Owners Give Notice That Makes Entry a Crime

For a second degree charge to hold up, the owner has to have communicated the prohibition through one of three methods recognized by statute:²

Direct communication. The owner or an authorized person tells you verbally or in writing that you are not welcome.
Posted signs. Signs placed in a manner prescribed by law or reasonably likely to catch the attention of someone approaching. A sign hidden behind brush or facing the wrong way doesn’t do the job.
Fencing or enclosure. A fence or other barrier clearly designed to keep people out counts on its own, without signs or conversation.

One wrinkle on fencing: the statute carves out situations covered by first degree, so a fenced building is prosecuted under the first degree law, not the second.

Jail Time and Fines

Trespass penalties track Nebraska’s misdemeanor classification system:³

First degree criminal trespass is a Class I misdemeanor. Up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.¹
Second degree criminal trespass is a Class III misdemeanor. Up to three months in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both.²
Second degree trespass with defiance of an order to leave is a Class II misdemeanor. Up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.²

That third tier matters. A second degree charge normally sits at the lowest misdemeanor level, but if the owner or another authorized person personally tells you to leave and you refuse, the charge jumps to Class II. The maximum jail time doubles and the maximum fine doubles. When someone tells you to get off their property, leave.

None of these offenses carry mandatory minimum sentences. The judge sets the sentence within the statutory range, taking into account things like property damage, prior record, and how you behaved when confronted.

Defenses That Can Beat a Charge

Nebraska law recognizes four affirmative defenses to a trespass charge. You concede you were on the property but argue the law excuses the entry:⁴

Abandoned building. If the building or occupied structure in a first degree case was abandoned, that is a defense.
Open to the public. If the property was open to the public at the time and you complied with all lawful conditions for entry, you have a defense. A park or public building during posted hours is the usual example.
Reasonable belief of permission. If you genuinely and reasonably believed the owner would have let you enter, you can raise that belief. This comes up when a neighbor has previously invited you onto their land and you assumed the invitation still stood.
River navigation. If you were navigating a stream or river in a non-motorized vessel and had to carry it around a fence or other obstruction in the waterway, that portage is a recognized defense.

Raising one of these puts the burden on you to produce evidence supporting it. A bare claim that you thought a building was abandoned, with nothing to back it up, is unlikely to work.

Getting Sued on Top of the Charge

Criminal charges aren’t the only exposure. The property owner can file a civil lawsuit independent of anything the state does. The criminal case belongs to the state; the civil case belongs to the owner.

In a civil trespass action, the owner can recover actual damages for harm the trespass caused, such as damaged crops, broken fences, or lost revenue from disrupted operations. If no physical damage occurred, Nebraska courts allow nominal damages recognizing that the owner’s rights were violated. Where the conduct was deliberate, malicious, or outrageous, punitive damages may be added on top.

An owner dealing with someone who keeps coming back can ask the court for an injunction ordering the person to stay away.⁵ A court generally will not issue one over a single isolated incident; you need a pattern or a credible threat of repetition.

The filing deadline for a civil trespass claim is four years from the date of the trespass.⁶ Once that window closes, the claim is barred no matter how strong the evidence.

If a Trespasser Gets Hurt on Your Land

Property owners are sometimes surprised to learn a trespasser can sue them for injuries sustained on the property. The general rule in Nebraska is that owners owe trespassers the lowest duty of care: you cannot deliberately injure them or act with reckless disregard for their safety, but you are not required to inspect your property for hazards or make it safe for people who have no right to be there.

Two situations shift that rule. If you become aware someone is trespassing, you owe that discovered trespasser reasonable care to warn about hidden dangers you know of, such as an uncovered well, unstable structures, or aggressive animals. The attractive nuisance doctrine can also apply when a feature like a swimming pool or trampoline is likely to draw children who don’t appreciate the danger; the owner may then have to take steps to keep children out, even uninvited ones.

These liability rules run separately from the criminal statutes. A trespasser can face criminal charges and still recover civil damages from an owner who acted recklessly or maintained a known hazard without warning.

1
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 28-520 – Criminal Trespass, First Degree; Penalty
2
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 28-521 – Criminal Trespass, Second Degree; Penalty
3
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 28-106 – Misdemeanors; Classification of Penalties; Sentences; Where Served
4
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes 28-522 – Criminal Trespass; Affirmative Defenses
5
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statute 25-1063
6
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statute 25-207