Nebraska Arrest Records

Are Arrest Records Public in Nebraska?

The public record law in Nebraska stipulates that arrest records are public records available to all United States citizens. Individuals can access arrest records by visiting the investigative services division. The division allows mail requests and online applications except otherwise ruled by a magistrate or judge.

What is Considered an Arrest Record in Nebraska?

An arrest record in Nebraska is also called Record of Arrest and Prosecution (RAP). The record contains court dispositions towards an individual concerning the arrest. This disposition includes the result of the adjudication process, which may consist of acquittals, convictions, decline to prosecute, nullified convictions via pardons or set-asides and no filed charges.

Nebraska arrest records are generally created by a law enforcement agency after the arrest of an individual. The allegations against an individual and subsequent trial are identified in the title and description of the arrest record. Nebraska arrest records are authenticated with fingerprints information. The fingerprints identification information is used to match individuals with the crimes the police arrested them.

In Nebraska, an arrest record is never conclusive proof of an individual’s involvement in a crime, except it bears information on indictment, charges, and sentences. Notwithstanding, they are typically included in an individuals Nebraska criminal records.

What is Contained in an Arrest Record?

An arrest record contains an individual’s criminal activity, indictment records, arrest history, and incarceration information. The information contained in the arrest record is obtained from different sources, such as courts, correctional facilities and criminal justice agencies. Typical criminal records in Nebraska contain individuals' full names and aliases, race or ethnicity, date of birth, arrest data and outstanding warrants, detailed physical features and unique identifiers, and conviction history and dispositions.

The arresting officer must document the arrest record after arresting a particular individual. Information to be recorded in the arrest record includes physical information, personal information, crime information, booking and arrest information, and information on police interrogation. Physical information includes height, weight, sex, eye and hair colour, race, and other distinctive features like a tattoo.

Personal information like age, current address, occupation, birthplace, full names and social security number are recorded. Under crime information, the arresting officer can clarify the crime, whether a felony, an infraction or a misdemeanor. Also, detailed descriptions of the incident from the victim and the witness are recorded. Information to be included under the arrest and booking are the suspect booking number, fingerprints, date and time of booking and arrest type and location, and the arresting agency. The arrest records may include the time and manner of the arrest.

Nebraska Arrest Statistics

In Nebraska, law enforcement agencies report arrests in two ways: The Uniform Crime Reporting Format (UCR) and the Nebraska Incident-Based Reporting System Format (NIBRS). The UCR format collates offense data on eight crimes: arson, motor vehicle theft, larceny, burglary, assault, robbery, rape, and homicide. Assault is further simplified into aggravated and simple assaults. At the same time, homicide is broken down into criminal homicide and death by negligence.

The total number of crimes recorded in 2020 in Nebraska shows a decrease of 15.9 % compared to 2019. A total of 37,623 crimes were reported in 2020. The 2020 statistics show a 17.7 % reduction in property crimes and a 3.3 % decrease in violent crime compared with the 2019 record. Specifically, violent crimes totalled 5, 523. The violent crimes include criminal homicide (77), forcible rape (981), robbery (679) and aggravated assault (3, 786). Property crimes totalled 32, 100. The property crimes include burglary (3, 861), larceny-theft (23, 531), motor vehicle theft (4, 569) and arson (139). Also, statistics show that the highest numbers of arrests in 2020 were drug abuse violations (9, 030), larceny (5, 545), simple assault (7, 500), an offense against family and children (5, 341) and driving under the influence (5, 341). The total number of adults arrested in 2020 is 45, 768 while the number of juveniles arrested is 6, 443. The total arrest was reduced by 21.5% in 2020 when compared with 2019.

How Do I Look Up Someone’s Arrest Record in Nebraska?

Any individual interested in another’s arrest record in the state can approach the local law enforcement for the record. The individual can also visit the Criminal Investigation Division or send a written request or make an online application for the record. Generally, agencies keeping public records like arrest records in Nebraska will request that individuals seeking the record pay a nominal fee of $12.50 for its reproduction. However, a requester may enjoy an arrest search fee waiver if found eligible. Most times, the agencies keeping the record will grant waivers when the record serves a public good. The law enforcement agencies will request individuals to provide their information and another individual of interest when doing a criminal background check.

How to Subpoena Arrest Records in Nebraska

A subpoena is a written order from a court compelling an individual to testify on a particular subject at a specified date. A party must submit to the county’s court clerk to request the issuance of a subpoena. The subpoena must contain the full names and addresses of the individual who gets it. Anyone who is 18 years old and not a party to the litigation can serve a subpoena. Individuals can serve a subpoena in three ways:

• By hand, which is a personal delivery method.
• Via email. An individual sending a subpoena via email must request an acknowledgment receipt.
• As certified mail to the last known address of the individual.

An individual sending a subpoena through certified mail must request a return receipt. Suppose the subpoena requests the presence of the individual. In that case, the person sending the document must provide the fees for a day’s attendance and the mileage covered by the law in honoring the subpoena.

Nebraska criminal rule established some guidelines concerning subpoenas. They include the following:

• A Marshal may serve a subpoena: The serving party will provide the original subpoena and two copies to the serving Marshal. This must be served within Nebraska at least two weeks (14 calendar days) before hearing or trial an individual is summoned. It must be served at least three weeks (21 calendar days) if the individual is expected to come from outside Nebraska for the trial or hearing. Any subpoena delivered outside these timeframes within and outside Nebraska is illegal.
• An individual can serve a subpoena to get the presence of an incarcerated individual. In this case, they must deliver the subpoena to the Marshal. The Marshal will serve it within 14 days to the time of trial or hearing within Nebraska and 30 days outside the state. On the other hand, suppose the government has mandated an individual to appear, the serving party may deliver the writ to the Marshal. The Marshal will serve the subpoena at any time before the trial or hearing of the individual.
• Individuals cannot use a subpoena in a criminal case to request the production of documents, books, and other objects meant to be given as evidence outside the scheduled trial or hearing period. This condition can only be overruled if it had been entered as an order by the court under the federal rule of criminal procedure.

Failure to respond to a subpoena will be considered contempt by the court or any agency that issued it. This contempt is punishable, and the punishment could range from monetary sanction to imprisonment in extreme cases.

How to Search for an Inmate in the Nebraska Prison System?

Anyone interested in searching for any inmate in Nebraska can use the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services website. The website provides tools that can be used in tracking inmates and the facility in which they are being held. The tools are the inmate locator tool and the facility index. An individual will need to supply the first and the last names of the person of interest to use the inmate locator tool to track an inmate. Also, an individual will have to supply the designated DOC number to use the facility index tool to locate where the inmate is being held in Nebraska. Apart from these two tools, the website also provides full details of the inmate, including their personal information, the sentence type, the projected release dates and parole eligibility, alongside other related information. Suppose an individual cannot track inmates using the tool offered by the website. In that case, they can contact the Public Records Unit either by mail or email to enquire about them.

How Do I Find Out if Someone Was in Jail in Nebraska?

An interested individual can visit the State Department of Correction website to locate any individual in any of the correctional facilities in Nebraska. The web page provides various resources like the offender’s contact information, offender’s visitation forms and sex offender’s registry. The website displays a phone number to call for necessary information and help when searching for information on people in jail in the state. Furthermore, any individual interested in any inmate in any of the Nebraska Correctional Facilities can utilize any available third-party search services online to do a background check on the individual of interest to them. The individual will visit the website of the selected third-party search service and provide the necessary information required of the inmate. They will also pay the required fee by the search service.

How to Find Recent Arrests in Nebraska

Details of recent arrests in Nebraska are held by the agency responsible for the apprehension. To find this information, inquirers must first determine where the arrest occurred and proceed to furnish the custodian with details of the arrest. This may include the arrestee’s full name, the place and time of the arrest, and, if known, the officer in charge. In selected cases, the agencies list these arrests on logs or roasters on their respective websites.

How Long Do Nebraska Arrest Records Stay on File?

There is no time limit for arrest or criminal record in Nebraska. This implies that the record will not go away with time. The law enforcement agencies cannot erase the criminal conviction of adults in the state. Once there is a conviction on an individual’s record, it will always be there. However, the conviction can be pardoned or set-aside. A pardon is a legal term for forgiveness offered by the Board of Pardons, while a set-aside is an order from the sentencing judge to void the conviction. This decision is discretionary for the judge. A set-aside will not erase the criminal record, but the order establishing the set-aside will be added to an individual’s criminal record.

What is the Difference Between an Arrest Record and an Arrest Warrant?

Specific differences exist between an arrest record and an arrest warrant. An arrest record is documented by the law enforcement officer that carried out the arrest. On the other hand, an arrest warrant originates from the magistrate or the judge. An arrest warrant empowers law enforcement agents to bring a particular individual facing criminal charges before a court. It gives personal jurisdiction over a particular defendant as a required condition in criminal prosecution.

On the other hand, an arrest record contains related information concerning the crime for which the individual is arrested and their personal information. The link between an arrest warrant and an arrest record is that an arrest warrant is needed before the law enforcement agencies carry out the arrest. The arrest record documents the arrest after the law enforcement agency has effected the warrant and arrested the individual who committed a crime.

What is an Arrest Report?

Nebraska arrest records are official accounts produced by police officers or other law enforcement personnel that outline the specifics of a person's arrest, such as the reasons for suspicion, the arrest procedure, and any pertinent evidence. Arrest records, in contrast, are more concise documents that enumerate an individual's history of arrests without providing the in-depth context and descriptions found in arrest reports.

What is the Difference Between an Arrest Record and a Criminal Record?

An arrest record contains the offenses an applicant has been contacted for and arrested by a law enforcement officer. On the other hand, criminal records document the disposition of the court towards an individual in response to a crime. Criminal records are individual records confirming that an individual committed a crime. In contrast, an arrest record only provides information by the arresting officer on the suspect and other crime-related information.

An arrest does not necessarily mean conviction. An individual can be falsely accused or wrongly arrested. Criminal records only exist when individuals have been convicted by a court of law or have agreed to plead guilty to a crime.

How to Obtain an Arrest Record for Free in Nebraska?

Information on criminal records in Nebraska is pooled by the Criminal Identification Division. Criminal records are organized into online depositories and public-access archives. This record may be accessed in a background check report. Any individual seeking to obtain a criminal record in Nebraska has three options: In-person, online, and through the mail. An individual requesting the record online may visit the Nebraska state patrol’s online criminal background check platform. This platform will require the requester to provide information about themselves and the person of interest and make a $15.50 payment.

On the other hand, a requester will have to fill a criminal record request form, pay $15.50 as a fee, and submit the application either via mail or in-person to the criminal identification division Office. The requester may also get these reports from other sources in the state, such as law enforcement offices, local and state courts and other databases. Furthermore, individuals may also use various third-party search services.

How to Search for a Nebraska Arrest Online Using a Third-Party Search Service?

Numerous third-party search services are available in Nebraska. These search services are more accessible as the information is not restricted to a particular geographical record. An individual will have to give the following information to access arrest records using these third-party search services:

• The name of the subject except when they are juveniles.
• The last known location of the subject whether city, county, or state.

The availability of records that may be accessed via these search services may vary. Also, these search services require the payment of a prescribed fee to enjoy their services.

What Can I Do if My Arrest Record Has a Mistake?

If an individual’s criminal record contains inaccurate information, the individual can approach the government agency to correct it. Before someone can fix a mistake on their criminal record, the individual must be aware of where the record is kept and be sure of the specific error in the record. In Nebraska, criminal records are kept with the state police, department of correction, local police department, courts and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

If a mistake exists in one place, the same mistake likely exists in other areas. If an individual corrects an error in a particular record, they will still fix it in another record. The record will not automatically update itself. Individuals need to take the following specific steps to correct inaccurate information in their criminal records.

• Obtain a copy of the criminal record to ascertain that the information is inaccurate
• Note the incorrect information with a tick and submit it to the arresting agency or the court that placed the information on their criminal history or record. Keep a copy of the request. After submitting the request, the agency or the clerk has two months (60 days) to look into it and act accordingly.
• If the agency refuses to act within the stipulated time, the individual must file an appeal with the court that handled the charges initially. The individual must file the appeal within 30 days after the expiry of the stipulated 60 days.
• The individual should send a copy of the appeal to the specific agency that put the information in the criminal record. They should also send a copy to the prosecutor by certified mail or other available means.

The court will look into the case and conclude whether the information is incomplete, misleading or inaccurate. After determining this, the court will order the record correction within two months (60days).

How to Expunge Arrest Records in Nebraska

An individual can seal or erase certain information from their criminal record after satisfying some established conditions. This sealing or erasure is possible through expungement. This legal process petitions the court to seal or erase certain information from an individual’s criminal record. Any information so erased cannot be reaccessed by the public. However, various laws in Nebraska govern the legal process of expungement. Nebraska revised statute 29-2264 allows an individual to request the court for an order to nullify or set-aside a conviction. Suppose an individual is willing to cancel or set-aside a conviction. In that case, the individual can download the form from the website of the Nebraska Judicial System and follow the instructions spelt out therein to petition the court for expungement. Nebraska revised statute 29-3523 is another law in the state of Nebraska which established conditions in which criminal arrest records can be corrected. In this case, the party concerned will petition the district court where the arrest was carried out in the particular county. Some of the conditions listed in the statute include the following:

• Suppose there is an arrest with no charges filed based on the determination of the attorney prosecuting the case. In that case, the individual can erase the arrest after one year from the date of arrest.
• Suppose there is an arrest with no charges filed due to a completed diversion. In that case, the arrest shall not be recorded as part of an individual’s criminal record after two years from the date of arrest.
• Suppose there is an arrest leading to charges being filed but eventually dismissed by the court on motion of the prosecuting attorney. In that case, the arrest shall not be part of the individual criminal record after three years from the date of arrest.

Furthermore, an individual arrested in error by any law enforcement agency may petition the district court seeking an order to expunge the criminal history record relating to the error. The individual will have to file the petition in the county’s district court, where the individual was arrested. They will name the county attorney as the respondent and serve them a copy of the petition. After submitting the petition, the individual will have to prove why the petition should be granted to the court. The court will consider the petition in the light of available evidence and conclude. Suppose the evidence provided is convincing to the judge. In that case, the court will grant the petition to remove such information recorded in error by the law enforcement agency that carried out the arrest.

Many courts in Nebraska have specific local rules that must be considered when applying for expungement. Therefore, it is vital to check with the county court or the district court clerk to find out about those rules. Suppose the rules are not followed, it may negatively influence the outcome of the expungement process. Individuals should note that expunged records can still be accessed by the court, certain government agencies and law enforcement agencies. Also, a conviction cannot be expunged in Nebraska.

The expungement process is a complex one and must be approached cautiously. An individual must seek the help and advice of an attorney to guide them through the expungement process, starting from filling the form and through the various appearances in court. The individual can also check online for additional information on expungement in Nebraska.