Nebraska Court Records: How to Search JUSTICE, the $17 Search Fee, and How Sealing Works

Nebraska is one of the few states where searching a court case online costs money every time, whether or not the search finds anything. The state's statewide trial-court search, run through the JUSTICE case management system, charges a flat fee per search, and that fee went up on January 1, 2026.

That pay-per-search structure is the single fact that shapes how most people should approach a Nebraska court records search: know the cost up front, and know that free alternatives exist at courthouses and law libraries if the fee is the obstacle.

Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This guide is part of a broader look at court records by state; for the mechanics of federal versus state versus county searches generally, see how to look up court records and are court records public.

Nebraska's Pay-Per-Search JUSTICE Portal

Nebraska's statewide trial-court case search sits behind a paywall on nebraska.gov, run through the JUSTICE system. The service's own terms and conditions state it plainly: "You will be required to pay a $17.00 fee in order to access any information from the Service." That fee applies to a one-time search regardless of the outcome, meaning a search that turns up nothing still costs $17.00, and whatever results a paid search does return remain accessible for a period of three days from the day the search was performed.

Charging for that access is something a Nebraska statute specifically contemplates. Neb. Rev. Stat. section 84-1205.03 allows the courts and the Legislature to charge a fee for electronic access to public records. Subsection (3) requires them to file a written report with the State Records Board describing the contract, the records involved, the implementation timeline, and the security provisions, and subsection (4) carves out an exception: courts "may charge a fee for electronic access to public records for a one-time sale in a unique format" without filing that report.

The Nebraska Supreme Court raised this and related fees effective January 1, 2026. Before the increase, a one-time search cost $15.00; the current one-time search fee is $17.00. For anyone who needs to search repeatedly, a Subscriber Case Search service charges $2.00 per record (up from $1.00), and a monthly Bulk Court Record Search System subscription, aimed at high-volume users, now costs $1,000 per month for up to 20,000 records, up from $500.

Nebraska also offers a free path around the fee: free access to the same case information at courthouse public-access kiosks and at select law libraries, including the Nebraska State Library and university law libraries. Anyone who does not want to pay the online fee, or who is doing a one-off search, can use one of those free access points instead.

What's Public in Nebraska

Nebraska court records start out as public records by statute, not by court rule. The Nebraska Public Records Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. sections 84-712 through 84-712.09, defines public records to include "all records and documents, regardless of physical form, of or belonging to this state" and to any "agency, branch, department, board, bureau, commission, council, subunit, or committee" of it. Section 84-712 gives Nebraska residents and other interested persons the right to examine those records during regular business hours and to make their own memoranda and copies free of charge, and it caps what a custodian may charge for copies it produces at the actual added cost of making them available. The categories a custodian may withhold are listed in section 84-712.05, and section 84-712.01 adds a carve-out for anything another statute expressly makes non-public.

Article 8 of the Nebraska Supreme Court Rules, sections 1-801 through 1-810, is the administrative layer the courts built on top of that statutory right. First adopted as an interim policy in 2003 and revised into permanent policy in 2013, it governs how electronic court records are made available, which categories are withheld, and how fees for access are structured. Section 1-810 covers fees for access.

The exclusions are consolidated in one rule, section 1-808, rather than scattered through the article, and that rule largely defers to the statute. It withholds "Information enumerated in Neb. Rev. Stat. section 84-712.05," criminal history information as set forth in the Security, Privacy, and Dissemination of Criminal History Information Act (section 29-3501 et seq.), adoption case records (the rule cites section 43-113), and "Court records sealed pursuant to statute or by court order." It also imposes a duty on anyone who obtains court records through a court-authorized provider not to disclose a record once it has been sealed, with a safe harbor for lawyers and parties who already held a document that was filed before the case was sealed and who make no new disclosure of it.

Sealing, Set-Aside, and What Each One Actually Does

Nebraska uses three distinct terms, and they are not interchangeable. A set aside, under Neb. Rev. Stat. section 29-2264, applies to a conviction after a person successfully completes probation or a short sentence; it nullifies the conviction and removes the civil disabilities that came with it, but the underlying record still exists and remains visible to the public.

Sealing is a separate track that applies mainly to records with no conviction at all, meaning charges that were dismissed or that ended in acquittal. Nebraska's own courts describe the effect plainly: "Once a record is sealed, the events surrounding the matter are deemed to have never occurred." A set-aside conviction can later be sealed on request, but a set aside and a sealing are two different actions, not the same step under two names.

Nebraska already has a working automatic-relief mechanism for the sealing track, separate from any Clean Slate branding used elsewhere. Cases dismissed or resulting in acquittal after December 31, 2016 are sealed automatically, with no motion required. Cases from before January 1, 2017 still require filing a Motion to Seal. This automatic mechanism is narrower than a full Clean Slate law because it reaches only non-conviction records, not convictions themselves. For eligibility on the conviction side and the set-aside and sealing filing process, see Nebraska expungement laws, which this page does not duplicate.

Certified Copies

Certified copies of Nebraska court documents are handled by the clerk of the court where the case was filed. Confirm the current process and any fee directly with that court, since this was not itemized in the sources reviewed for this page.

Using Nebraska Court Records the Right Way

Nebraska's paid search tool is built for checking your own case or a matter you are personally involved in, not for compiling a background file on someone else, and the fee structure makes casual browsing of other people's records an expensive habit in any case. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, most arrests and civil judgments age off a consumer report after seven years, but criminal convictions are carved out of that limit under 15 U.S.C. section 1681c(a)(5) and can be reported indefinitely unless the record has been sealed. Anyone assembling public court records for a hiring or housing decision may be acting as a consumer reporting agency under federal law, and the FTC has enforced this directly: in 2023 it reached a $5.8 million settlement with TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate over marketing public-records reports for tenant and employee screening without following FCRA requirements. A paid JUSTICE search is not a substitute for an FCRA-compliant background check when the decision involves employment or housing.

Related Resources

Court Records by State covers the full 50-state picture. See also How to Look Up Court Records, Are Court Records Public?, Nebraska Expungement Laws, Nebraska Background Check Laws, Nebraska Warrant Search, and Nebraska Public Records Laws.

Disclaimer

This article explains how Nebraska's court records tools are organized and priced. It is general legal information, not legal advice. Fees change; verify current pricing with nebraskajudicial.gov before relying on it. Consult a Nebraska-licensed attorney for advice about a specific case.

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Last updated: 2026-08-10. Portal facts and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What law makes Nebraska court records public?

The Nebraska Public Records Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. sections 84-712 through 84-712.09, is the governing access law. It gives residents and other interested persons the right to examine public records and make their own copies free of charge, and lists the withholding categories in section 84-712.05. Article 8 of the Nebraska Supreme Court Rules is the administrative layer for electronic court records, and its exclusion rule, section 1-808, points back to that statutory list.

Is Nebraska court records search free?

No. Nebraska's statewide JUSTICE case search charges a flat $17.00 fee per search as of January 1, 2026, even if the search returns no results. Free access to the same information is available at courthouse public terminals and select law libraries.

Why does Nebraska charge for a court records search that finds nothing?

The JUSTICE system's terms and conditions state that the $17.00 fee is required to access the service itself, not tied to whether a matching record is found. This is a flat access fee, not a per-record charge. Neb. Rev. Stat. section 84-1205.03 is the statute that lets the courts charge for electronic access to public records.

How do I search Nebraska court records for free?

Visit a courthouse public-access terminal or one of the participating law libraries, including the Nebraska State Library and university law libraries, which offer free access to the same case information available through the paid JUSTICE portal.

What is the difference between a set aside and a sealed record in Nebraska?

A set aside, under Neb. Rev. Stat. section 29-2264, nullifies a conviction's civil disabilities but leaves the record visible. Sealing, which applies mainly to non-conviction cases, treats the matter as though it never occurred. A set-aside conviction can later be sealed on separate request.

Does Nebraska automatically seal any court records?

Yes, but only for non-conviction cases. Charges dismissed or resulting in acquittal after December 31, 2016 are sealed automatically, without a motion. Cases from before that date still require filing a Motion to Seal. Convictions are not covered by this automatic mechanism.

What does the Nebraska Bulk Court Record Search System cost?

As of January 1, 2026, a monthly subscription costs $1,000 and provides access to up to 20,000 records per month, up from the prior $500 rate.