Nebraska Sex Offender Records

What is a Sex Offender?

Engaging in illegal sexual conduct or committing unlawful sexual acts such as rape or sexual assault comes with severe repercussions in the United States. Any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a sex offense will often be prosecuted aggressively, no matter which court (federal or state) tries the case.

Public opinion is one primary reason why states in the country clamp down on sex offenders. In Nebraska, not only are sex offenders subject to lengthy prison terms and substantial fines from the courts, but per Section 29-4002 of the state’s statutes, these individuals pose a high risk to the community. Therefore, most sex offenders are required to register with local law enforcement agencies. By this means, sex offender information is provided to the public, and the effect is thus:

The police can protect people living in their jurisdictions;
The people can better protect themselves and their families; and
The ability of sex offenders to act in secrecy is diminished, thereby contributing to lower recidivism (re-offending) rates.

The drawback is that offenders lose their social standing because this information becomes available to any person (neighbors, employers, co-workers, family, friends) with interest. As such, finding a place to work, live, or even leaving or entering the country may become difficult.

Who is Considered a Sex Offender in Nebraska?

In simple terms, a sex offender in Nebraska is someone convicted or adjudicated of a sex offense by the courts. Chapter 28 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes outlines what the state considers a sex crime, including sexual assault of a child, sexual assault, incest, and others explained in detail below.

What are the Different Types of Sex Offenses in Nebraska?

A considerable number of sex crimes in Nebraska are felonies. Because of this, the punishments incurred by offenders are often punitive. The different types of sex offenses in Nebraska and these penalties are outlined below.

1st-degree sexual assault of a child (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-319.01): A person is guilty of this offense when such a person, being at least 19 years old, subjects a child under 12 years of age to sexual penetration. It is a Class IB felony, and for a first offense, a convicted person faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 years. However, this mandatory minimum becomes 25 years when the perpetrator is found guilty of sexual assault of a child in the first degree and has a prior conviction for the offenses below:

First-degree sexual assault of a child.
First-degree or attempted first-degree sexual assault.
Second or third-degree sexual assault or attempted sexual assault of a child.
Any conviction equivalent to the above obtained in another jurisdiction.

2nd or 3rd-degree sexual assault of a child (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-320.01): This occurs if someone at least 19 years of age engages in sexual contact with a child at least 14 years of age. This crime would be in the second degree and a Class II felony if the perpetrator caused severe personal injury to the child. On the other hand, it is in the third degree and a Class IIIA felony when the child did not suffer serious personal injury.

A Class II felony has a minimum imprisonment period of 1 year and a maximum of 50 years. For a Class IIIA felony, offenders can spend up to 3 years in prison and 18 months being supervised after release. The court may also assess a 10,000 fine for the convict.

Furthermore, persons convicted of second-degree sexual assault of a child whose prior convictions are any of the below will be charged with a Class IC felony instead:

Second or third-degree sexual assault of a child
First degree or attempted first-degree sexual assault
First degree or attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child
Any conviction similar to the above received in another jurisdiction

The penalty is a mandatory minimum prison term of 25 years.

However, if the individual received a conviction for third-degree sexual assault of a child and has the above prior convictions, it is a Class IC felony. Here, the incarceration period can be from 5 to 50 years.

1st-degree sexual assault (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-319): A person is guilty of sexual assault in the first degree when they subject someone else to sexual penetration as follows:

Without consent
If the perpetrator is aware or should have been aware that the victim is physically or mentally unable to resist or appraise the situation
If the perpetrator is at least 19 years old and the victim is at least 12 years old but no more than 16 years old.

It is a Class II felony, but the period of incarceration is determined by whether the victim incurred serious personal injury or not. However, the court will impose a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years on a repeat offender.

2nd or 3rd-degree sexual assault (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-320): An individual is guilty of this offense if they subject another to sexual contact as stated below:

Without consent
While knowing or where the actor should have known that the victim has a physical or mental incapacity that prevents them from resisting or appraising the situation.

If the perpetrator caused serious personal injury to the victim, it is a second-degree sexual assault and a Class IIA felony. If the victim did not sustain a serious personal injury, it is a sexual assault in the third degree and a Class I misdemeanor.

For a Class I misdemeanor, an offender can spend up to a year in jail, incur a $1,000 fine, or have both repercussions imposed by the court. Similarly, a Class IIA felony does not have any prison sentence minimum, and the most an offender can spend in prison is 20 years.

Sexual abuse: As defined by Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-367, sexual abuse includes:

In other words, the descriptions of the offenses mentioned above make up what the state constitutes as sexual abuse. As such, there are different types of sexual abuse offenses in Nebraska’s legislature, such as:

Sexual abuse of a parolee or inmate in the first and second degrees
Sexual abuse of a protected individual (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-322.04)
Sexual abuse by a school employee (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-316.01)
Sexual abuse of a detainee (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-322.05)

Sexual abuse of a parolee or inmate in the first and second degrees:

It is said to be sexual abuse of an inmate or parolee when a person subjects a parolee or inmate to sexual contact or sexual penetration. Per Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-322, “person” means anyone who is an employee of the Department of Correctional Services or Division of Parole Supervision, including people working under contract or who have been given control over an inmate or inmate’s activities. The definition also encompasses persons employed in a county or city jail or correctional facility and those employed by the Office of Probation Administration and stationed at correctional or jail facilities within the state.

Sexual abuse of a parolee or inmate is in the first degree when a person, as described above, subjects an inmate or parolee to sexual penetration. Per Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-322, it is a Class IIA felony. Any individual convicted of this offense can be incarcerated for 20 years.

On the other hand, it is sexual abuse in the second degree and a Class IIIA felony when a person, as described above, subjects a parolee or inmate to sexual contact. Class IIIA felonies carry a maximum prison sentence of 3 years and 18 months post-release supervision, a 10,000 fine, or both. It is not a defense that the parolee or inmate permitted the sexual act.

Incest (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-703): When someone intentionally marries or has sexual relations with the following persons, such a person is guilty of incest in Nebraska:

A parent
A child
A grandparent
A grandchild
A full or half-blood brother or sister
An uncle, aunt, niece, or nephew
A child or relation born out of wedlock
A stepchild under the age of nineteen

Incest is a Class III felony in the state, but if the other party was below 18 years of age, it is a Class IIA felony. A Class III felony conviction comes with a prison term maximum of 4 years and 2 years post-release supervision, a $25,000 fine, or both. On the other hand, a Class IIA felony conviction garners a 20-year prison sentence at most.

Public indecency (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-806): Public indecency occurs when a person who is 18 years old or more performs or procures, or assists another person in performing certain sexual acts in a public place and where the conduct may reasonably be expected to be viewed by the general public. These acts include:

Sexual penetration
Lewd caressing or fondling of another person’s body, regardless of the person’s gender
Exposure of one’s genitals to alarm or affront someone

Offenders will be charged with a Class II misdemeanor (up to 6 months in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both). Breastfeeding a child in public is not considered public indecency in Nebraska.

Note: For the definitions of terms used above, including actor, sexual penetration, force or threat of force, sexual contact, and serious personal injury, see Section 28-318 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes. Also, the minimum and maximum sentencing guidelines used by the Nebraska courts can be found in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-105 and § 28-106.

Also, keep in mind that the above are descriptions of some, not all, of Nebraska’s sexual offenses. Those not mentioned here, including debauching a minor, sexually explicit conduct, prostitution, pandering, and more, can be reviewed in Chapter 28 of the state’s revised statutes.

What Types of Sex Offenders Exist in Nebraska?

Nebraska is among the few U.S. states that do not classify sex offenders by tier levels (e.g., Tier I, II, or III) representative of their risk to society. Instead, Nebraska sticks to the base classifications of adult or juvenile sex offenders and felony or misdemeanor sex crimes. The state also groups them by how long they will spend registered as sex offenders:

15-year offenders,
25-year offenders, and
Lifetime offenders.

Additionally, Nebraska no longer has a sexually violent predator provision. Before December 31, 2009, sexually violent predators were persons convicted of one or more registrable sex offenses (crimes requiring sex offender registration) and found to suffer from a personality disorder or mental abnormality that made them likely to perform sexually violent crimes. After 2009, a person can only be considered a sexually violent predator in Nebraska if the court determines such a person to be one after reviewing expert testimonies regarding the offender’s behavior and treatment.

How To Find a Sex Offender Near Me in Nebraska

Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-4002, sex offenders convicted in Nebraska are considered to endanger public safety. Therefore, sex offender information is usually accessible to the public in the state.

Interested residents can find sex offenders living near them using a central database maintained by the Sex Offender Registry Division of Investigative Services of the Nebraska State Patrol. This database is known as the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry. The second option is to request a person’s criminal history information from the Nebraska State Patrol and pay the associated $15.50 fee. More information on obtaining a person’s criminal history can be found on the agency’s criminal history reports page and criminal history record requests page.

Other than accessing the registry remotely or contacting the Nebraska State Patrol, interested persons can check the Department of Correctional Services’ inmate locator site for sex offenders who are incarcerated or were released. If a federal court convicted the offender, the Inmate Locator maintained by the Federal Bureau of Prisons is a better resource. However, if the offender was convicted in another state, searching the National Sex Offender Public Website or by the particular state’s or region’s sex offender registry may prove more fruitful.

Additionally, Nebraska provides the public with a list of websites where they can find sex offender records. Some of these websites have already been mentioned here.

Interested members of the public may also obtain public record information from third-party websites. These privately owned sites typically host data culled from public databases and repositories. However, the information available on third-party sites may vary since they are independent of government sources. In order to use a third-party site, record seekers may be required to provide all or some of the following information:

The full name on the record of choice
The last known or current address of the named individual
The address of the requestor

Nebraska Sex Offender Registry

The Sex Offender Registry (SOR) in Nebraska can be accessed through that state’s official site. The Nebraska State Patrol maintains this central database in compliance with the Sex Offender Registration Act.

There are three ways of searching the registry:

By name
By region
By location

Searching by an offender’s name requires the requester to fill in the offender’s first or last name (individuals can search by exact names only) and click “Submit”. When searching by region, the interested party must provide a county, city, or zip code instead. The last search option provides street address, city, and zip code search results and allows the searcher to find offenders within a 1 to 3-mile radius.

Regardless of the search tool used, the requester will be able to view details about an offender and even set up email notifications for a particular offender.

Sex offender details obtainable from the registry include:

The offender’s name and alias
Image (including additional images)
Date of birth
Duration of registration
Identifying information: race, height, weight, sex, hair color, and eye color
Last verified address
Schools that the offender is attending (if applicable)
The offender’s vehicle type and color
Sex crime conviction(s), including the crime, associated statute number, jurisdiction, court, conviction date, place of crime, and the crime victim (whether a minor or adult)

Interested members of the public may also obtain public record information from third party websites. These privately owned sites typically host data culled from public databases and repositories. However, the information available on third-party sites may vary since they are independent of government sources. To use a third-party site, record seekers may be required to provide all of some of the following information:

The full name on the record of choice
The last known or current address of the named individual
The address of the requestor

What Happens When You Register as a Sex Offender in Nebraska?

Nebraska’s sex offender registration laws were established on January 1, 1997, as Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-4001 through 29-4013. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-4003, the following sex offenders are required to register with their local sheriff’s office:

Persons who plead guilty or are found guilty of an offense requiring registration.
Persons incarcerated in a jail or correctional facility after pleading guilty or found guilty of a registrable offense.
Probationers or parolees who were convicted of a registrable offense.
Anyone pled guilty, no contest, or was found guilty of any registrable sex offense in another U.S. jurisdiction, by the U.S. government, court-martial or another military tribunal, or a foreign jurisdiction.
Anyone who enters the state and is required to register as a sex offender in another U.S. jurisdiction (city, state, town, village, commonwealth, territory, etc.)
Persons required to register and who may not reside in the state but school, work, or carry on a vocation in Nebraska.

However, there is no law requiring persons convicted in juvenile court to register as sex offenders.

According to Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-4003, the registrable sex offenses in Nebraska include:

Kidnapping of a minor (non-parental)
Incest of a minor
Debauching of a minor
Pandering of a minor
False imprisonment of a minor
Criminal child enticement
Criminal child enticement via a computer
Sexual assault (1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree)
Sexual assault of a child (1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree)
Sexual abuse by a school employee
Sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult
Sexually explicit conduct of a minor; visual depiction
Intentionally possessing a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct
Attempt, aiding or abetting, being an accessory, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit any of the above crimes

Also, individuals convicted of certain offenses on or after January 1, 2010, are subject to Nebraska’s Sex Offender Registration Act. These crimes are outlined in Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-4003 (1)(b)(i) and include stalking, kidnapping, manslaughter, assault (1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree), sexual abuse of an inmate or parolee (1st or 2nd degree), incest, child abuse, etc.

Ordinarily, sex offender registration must occur within 3 days of becoming subject to the state’s sex offender registration laws, prior to release from incarceration, or upon release from a sentencing court. The duration of this registration depends on the sentence, not the class of offense (whether felony or misdemeanor). These periods are as follows:

15 years: For offenders whose registrable offenses are not subject to imprisonment for more than a year. This primarily applies to misdemeanor offenses. Here, an offender is required to update their information every year in their birth month.
25 years: For offenders whose offenses attract imprisonment for over a year. Offenders in this category are often persons convicted of crimes without an aggravating factor. The law requires these persons to reverify their information every six months.
Life: For offenders convicted of a registrable offense that is punishable by incarceration for over a year and is an aggravated offense. Life registration is also imposed on offenders who had previous sex convictions and who are lifetime registrants in other U.S. jurisdictions or foreign jurisdictions. Anyone mandated to register for life must update their information quarterly.

Offenders who become homeless must update their information in person at a local sheriff’s office every 30 days.

Any person who purposefully fails to comply with the state’s registration laws will have their registration period recalculated by the Nebraska State Police. Also, violators of the Sex Offender Registration Act will be charged with a Class IIIA felony. However, suppose the transgressor has a prior conviction for violating the act. In that case, it is a Class IIA felony, and such a person will be subject to a mandatory minimum prison term of at least a year. The only exception where the violation becomes a misdemeanor and a Class IIIA felony is if the individual’s registrable offense was a misdemeanor.

Violations of the act include:

Failure to finish verification
Failure to register within 3 business days of becoming subject to the act
Failure to update transient (homeless) status within 30 days
Failure to report school or employment changes in 3 business days
Providing false data to the Sex Offender Registry
Failing to report address changes 3 days prior

Generally, Nebraska does not place any living, working, or computer/internet restriction on registered sex offenders. Nevertheless, localities may pass ordinances that prevent an offender from residing close to a school or daycare center.

Like some states, Nebraska permits certain sex offenders to apply to reduce their registration periods after some time passes (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-4005 (2)). In Nebraska, this advantage is offered only to 15-year registrants, provided they have spent 10 years being registered and that during the registration period, the following were true:

The individual was not convicted of any offense where the prison sentence could have been over a year;
The individual did not receive a new sex conviction;
The individual completed any parole, incarceration, supervised release, or probation; and
The individual completed an appropriate sex offender treatment course.

Eligible offenders may ask the Nebraska State Police to reduce their registration periods to 10 years. The form for this request is provided on the agency’s website.