Nebraska Easement and Eminent Domain Laws (2026)

In Nebraska, a prescriptive easement takes 10 years of use, and the Nebraska Supreme Court generally presumes that open, visible, continuous and unmolested use for that period was under a claim of right, so the landowner must then show the use was permissive (Fischer v. Grinsbergs, 1977). Use of unenclosed land that an owner lets the public or neighbors generally use is instead presumed permissive. The 10 years matches the limit on actions to recover land in Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-202. On eminent domain, Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-710.04 (2006) bars a taking that is "primarily for an economic development purpose," but the bar does not affect projects that make the property available for use as a right-of-way, pipeline or transmission line, takings for use by a utility or railroad, and several other listed purposes.

This page covers both halves of Nebraska law: easements between private landowners first, then the government's power to take private property. For other states, see our guide to easement laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-19. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Nebraska state law on private easements (prescriptive easements, easements by necessity and implication, the county access-road procedure for isolated land, express and recorded easements, termination, and easement relocation) and on condemnation of private property under the Nebraska Constitution and Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-701 to 76-726. It does not cover adverse possession of title (see Nebraska squatters' rights and adverse possession), homeowners' association covenants, zoning, regulatory takings, federal condemnation (see eminent domain laws by state), or city and county ordinances.

Prescriptive Easements in Nebraska

A prescriptive easement is a right to keep using another person's land, such as a driveway or field lane, that arises from long use rather than from a deed. The 10-year period comes from case law. The Nebraska Supreme Court in Fischer v. Grinsbergs, 198 Neb. 329 (1977), referred to "the prescriptive period of 10 years," which is the same 10-year period Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-202(1) sets for an action "for the recovery of the title or possession of lands."

The court in Fischer restated the standard of proof from its earlier decision in Jurgensen v. Ainscow, 155 Neb. 701 (1952):

"To prove a prescriptive right to an easement, all the elements of prescriptive use must be generally established by clear, convincing, and satisfactory evidence."

In the same passage, Jurgensen listed what the use must be: "adverse, under a claim of right, continuous and uninterrupted, open and notorious, exclusive, and with the knowledge and acquiescence of the owner of the servient tenement, for the full prescriptive period." These elements come from case law, not from a statute. Fischer also held that "use of predecessors in title may be tacked on" to the claimant's use to meet the 10-year requirement.

The presumption of adverse use

The key practical rule in Nebraska is a presumption that shifts the burden to the landowner. In Fischer, the Supreme Court quoted its earlier decision in Smith v. Bixby, 196 Neb. 235 (1976), and called the rule "clear and well established":

"where the evidence establishes the open, visible, continuous, and unmolested use of the land for a period of time sufficient to acquire an easement by adverse user, the use will be presumed to be under a claim of right. In such a case the owners of the servient estate, in order to avoid the acquisition of an easement by prescription, have the burden of rebutting the prescriptive right by showing that the use was permissive."

Open, visible, continuous and unmolested use is the trigger for that presumption; it is not a complete list of what a claimant must prove.

The presumption has limits. Fischer described the rule of Scoville v. Fisher, 181 Neb. 496 (1967), that "when an owner permits his unenclosed and unimproved land to be used by the public, or by his neighbors generally," a neighbor's use "will be presumed to be permissive and not adverse in the absence of any attendant circumstances indicative of the contrary." Where the presumption of a claim of right does apply, Fischer said it "prevails unless it is overcome by a preponderance of the evidence." Whether the evidence meets the standard in a particular dispute is for a court.

Adverse possession of title also runs on the 10-year period in 25-202. For how a person can gain ownership of land, rather than a right to use it, see Nebraska squatters' rights and adverse possession, and for the other filing deadlines in chapter 25, see the Nebraska statute of limitations.

Public land

Section 25-202(1) states that no limitation applies to the time within which a county, city, town, village, other municipal corporation, public power or irrigation district, or natural resources district "may begin an action for the recovery of the title or possession of any public road, street, or alley, other public or political subdivision grounds or lands, or city or town lots." The statute speaks of recovering title or possession; how it applies to a claimed easement over public land is a question this page does not resolve.

How a landowner responds to a claimed prescriptive easement

Under Fischer, the landowner's defense once the presumption arises is to show "that the use was permissive." A use that began and continued with the owner's permission is not under a claim of right. Because the claimant must prove the elements by clear, convincing and satisfactory evidence, the strength of each side's evidence about how the use began and continued usually decides these cases.

Easements by Necessity and by Implication

Nebraska courts also recognize easements that arise without a written grant when a tract of land is divided. The Nebraska Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that a way of necessity "usually arises where there is a conveyance of a part of a tract of land of such nature and extent that either the part conveyed or the part retained is entirely surrounded by the land from which it is severed or by this land and the land of strangers" (Hillary Corp. v. United States Cold Storage, 250 Neb. 397 (1996), quoting Johnson v. Mays, 1984). The necessity must be strict: quoting Badura v. Lyons (1946), the court described it as "an absolute necessity, for which inconvenience without more does not suffice."

An easement implied from a former use is different. It "arises only where (1) the use giving rise to the easement was in existence at the time of the conveyance subdividing the property, (2) the use has been so long continued and so obvious as to show that it was meant to be permanent, and (3) the easement is necessary for the proper and reasonable enjoyment of the dominant tract" (O'Connor v. Kaufman, 260 Neb. 219 (2000)). For this type, "reasonable necessity" is enough: "The rule of strict necessity is applied to easements that arise by necessity and implied reservations, but not to easements from former use."

In a title-insurance dispute, the Nebraska Supreme Court held that implied easements that "arose from prior use" before the policy was issued "remained inchoate until the court order judicially recognized their existence," and that, for purposes of that policy, they "attached" to the land when the court's decree was entered (Woodle v. Commonwealth Land Title Ins. Co., 287 Neb. 917 (2014)).

Landlocked Land: The County Access Road Procedure

Nebraska has a statutory procedure for land with no public access. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. 39-1713, an owner may present an affidavit to the county board showing that:

• the owner owns the land described, located in the county;
• the land "is shut out from all public access, other than a waterway, by being surrounded on all sides by real estate belonging to other persons, or by such real estate and by water";
• the owner "is unable to purchase from any of such persons the right-of-way over or through the same to a public road or that it cannot be purchased except at an exorbitant price, stating the lowest price for which the same can be purchased"; and
• the owner asks that an access road be provided under section 39-1716.

Section 39-1714 extends the same procedure to land whose only access to a public road is "an established private road less than two rods in width." Section 39-1713 defines an access road as "a right-of-way open to the general public for ingress to and egress from a tract of isolated land." The result is a public road, not a private easement for the petitioner alone.

What the county board must find

Section 39-1716(1) requires the county board to "proceed to provide an access road" if it finds all four of these conditions:

1. the conditions in section 39-1713 or 39-1714 exist;
2. "the isolated land was not isolated at the time it was purchased by the owner or that the owner acquired the land directly from the State of Nebraska";
3. "the isolation of the land was not caused by the owner or by any other person with the knowledge and consent of the owner"; and
4. "access is necessary for existing utilization of the isolated land."

These limits matter. A buyer who purchased land that was already landlocked, or an owner whose own sale cut the land off, does not meet the statute's conditions, and the access must serve an existing use of the land. Designating an access road does not impose on the state or a county "any obligation of design, construction, or maintenance for the access road" (39-1716(3)).

Who pays, notice and appeal

The petitioner pays. Section 39-1716(2) states that the landowners' damages "shall be paid by the person petitioning that the access road be provided," and that for real estate "purchased or otherwise acquired after January 1, 1982," the petitioner "shall also reimburse the county for all engineering and construction costs incurred in providing such access."

At least 15 days' written notice of the hearing must go to all owners and occupants of the land the road may cross (39-1715). Any party to the award may appeal to the district court of the county where the land lies within 60 days after the award is filed, and the appeal "shall not affect the right or authority of the petitioner to the use of the access road under the award of the appraisers" (39-1719).

An owner who does not meet these conditions may still claim a common-law way of necessity (above), which arises from how the land was divided and takes a court's decree rather than a county board's finding.

Express Easements, Recording and Termination

Nebraska's statute of frauds covers any interest in land, so an easement created by agreement, or given up, generally takes a signed writing. Neb. Rev. Stat. 36-103 provides that no estate or interest in land, other than leases for a term of one year, "shall hereafter be created, granted, assigned, surrendered, or declared, unless by operation of law, or by deed of conveyance in writing, subscribed by the party creating, granting, assigning, surrendering or declaring the same."

Recording protects the holder. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-238, unrecorded instruments "are void as to all creditors and subsequent purchasers without notice whose deeds, mortgages, or other instruments are recorded prior to such instruments." A title search at the county register of deeds is how a buyer finds recorded easements; see Nebraska property records for how those searches work.

How an easement ends

An easement can end or change in several ways:

• Release in writing. Because 36-103 covers an interest "surrendered" as well as one created, an easement holder who gives up an easement does so by a signed writing unless it ends "by operation of law." For the deed form many owners use, see Nebraska quitclaim deed requirements.
• The marketable title act. A person with an unbroken chain of title under a deed recorded for 22 years or longer who "is in possession of such real estate" has a marketable record title, subject to claims not barred by the act, "instruments which have been recorded less than twenty-two years, and any encumbrances of record not barred by the statute of limitations" (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-288). Under 76-290, that title is free of interests that depend on events 22 or more years earlier, "whether such claim or charge be evidenced by a recorded instrument or otherwise," unless the claimant files for record a written notice of the claim, sworn under oath, within the time that section sets (generally 23 years from the recording of the deed under which title is claimed). The notice is filed in each county where the land lies and must give its legal description (76-292). The act's listed exceptions (76-298) do not mention easements, so how it applies to a particular old easement is a title question for a lawyer or title examiner.
• Abandonment. Abandonment is "the voluntary and intentional relinquishment of a right to property," and an easement may be abandoned "by unequivocal acts showing a clear intention to abandon and terminate the right"; the evidence "must be clear and convincing" (Mueller v. Bohannon, 256 Neb. 286 (1999)). For an easement created by deed, the court held there is no presumption of abandonment, and "nonuser is relevant evidence of abandonment, but must be combined with other facts which indicate an intent of the easement holder to abandon its use." The court has applied a different rule to implied and prescriptive easements: if the holder did not use the easement within the 10-year prescriptive period, "a presumption of abandonment arises" that the holder must rebut (Mueller, describing earlier cases including Hillary Corp.).
• Utility and road rights-of-way. A power-line right-of-way acquired under 70-301 reverts to the landowner if the line is abandoned for five years (Neb. Rev. Stat. 70-303), a telecommunications right-of-way obtained under 86-701 to 86-707 reverts after the line is abandoned for three years (86-706), and the right-of-way of a vacated county road whose disposition the board did not specify reverts to the adjacent owners after at least ten continuous years of nonuse for any public purpose (39-1725(3)).
• Relocation rather than termination. The Uniform Easement Relocation Act (below) moves an easement without ending it.

Relocating an easement: the Uniform Easement Relocation Act (2021)

Nebraska adopted the Uniform Easement Relocation Act in 2021 (LB501), codified at Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-2,127 to 76-2,140. It applies to an easement "established by express grant or reservation or by prescription, implication, necessity, estoppel, or other method," and to an easement "created before, on, or after August 28, 2021."

Under 76-2,130, a servient owner (the owner of the land the easement crosses) "may relocate an easement under the Uniform Easement Relocation Act only if the relocation does not materially" do any of a list of things, including:

• "lessen the utility of the easement";
• "after the relocation, increase the burden on the easement holder in its reasonable use and enjoyment of the easement";
• "impair an affirmative, easement-related purpose for which the easement was created";
• "during or after the relocation, impair the safety of the easement holder or another entitled to use and enjoy the easement";
• "impair the physical condition, use, or value of the dominant estate or improvements on the dominant estate"; or
• "impair the value of the collateral of a security interest holder of record."

The list also covers disruption during the move (unless the servient owner "substantially mitigates the duration and nature of the disruption") and harm to a lessee's or other recorded interest (76-2,130(5), (7)). To relocate under the Act, the servient owner "must commence a civil action" and serve the easement holder, recorded lenders and others (76-2,131). The court may approve the move only if the easement is eligible and the conditions are met, and the owner must record a certified copy of the order before moving the easement (76-2,132). The servient owner pays the "reasonable expenses of relocation" (76-2,133).

The Act "may not be used to relocate" a public utility, conservation or negative easement, or an easement or right-of-way held by a public power and irrigation district, irrigation district, reclamation district or canal company, and it "does not apply to relocation of an easement by consent" (76-2,129). The right to seek relocation "may not be waived, excluded, or restricted by agreement," even if the instrument creating the easement prohibits relocation (76-2,137).

Conservation and preservation easements

A conservation or preservation easement is "an interest in real property, created by an instrument in which the purpose for the easement is clearly stated," which must be "filed, duly recorded, and indexed" with the county register of deeds, and no conveyance of one "shall be effective until accepted by the holder" (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-2,112).

Eminent Domain in Nebraska

Eminent domain is the power of the state, local governments and some private entities to take private property for public use. For the federal rules and other states, see our guide to eminent domain laws by state.

The Nebraska Constitution, article I, section 21, provides:

"The property of no person shall be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation therefor."

Because of the words "or damaged," the clause covers property damaged for public use, not only property taken.

Can Nebraska take property for a private developer?

Not when economic development is the primary purpose. After the U.S. Supreme Court decided Kelo v. City of New London in 2005, Nebraska enacted LB 924 in 2006, and the section was amended in 2010 (LB1048). Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-710.04 now provides:

"(1) A condemner may not take property through the use of eminent domain under sections 76-704 to 76-724 if the taking is primarily for an economic development purpose. (2) For purposes of this section, economic development purpose means taking property for subsequent use by a commercial for-profit enterprise or to increase tax revenue, tax base, employment, or general economic conditions."

Subsection (3) lists the exceptions. The section "does not affect the use of eminent domain for":

• "Public projects or private projects that make all or a major portion of the property available for use by the general public or for use as a right-of-way, aqueduct, pipeline, transmission line, or similar use";
• "Removing harmful uses of property if such uses constitute an immediate threat to public health and safety";
• "Leasing property to a private person who occupies an incidental part of public property or a public facility, such as a retail establishment on the ground floor of a public building";
• "Acquiring abandoned property";
• "Clearing defective property title";
• "Taking private property for use by a utility or railroad";
• "Taking private property based upon a finding of blighted or substandard conditions under the Community Development Law if the private property is not agricultural land or horticultural land as defined in section 77-1359"; and
• "Taking private property for a transmission line to serve a privately developed facility generating electricity using wind, solar, biomass, or landfill gas."

That last exception ends: "Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to grant the power of eminent domain to a private entity." In the statute's words, the test is whether the taking is "primarily" for an economic development purpose.

Who may condemn, and pipelines

Under Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-701, a condemner is "any legal entity that by law has been granted the right to exercise the power of eminent domain and includes the state and any governmental or political subdivision thereof." Whether a particular company has that power depends on the statute that grants it, not on 76-701.

Pipeline companies get their condemnation power from Neb. Rev. Stat. 57-1101, which lets a company transporting "crude oil, petroleum, gases, or other products thereof" that is unable to agree with an owner acquire a right-of-way by eminent domain, using the general procedure in 76-704 to 76-724. For a major oil pipeline (one "larger than six inches in inside diameter," not including in-field and gathering lines, 57-1404) placed in operation after November 23, 2011, the company must first obtain the Governor's route approval under 57-1503 or a Public Service Commission order approving its application under the Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act (57-1408), and the right expires if condemnation procedures have not been commenced within two years after that approval (57-1101).

Underground carbon-dioxide storage is handled separately. Under the Nebraska Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide Act (2021), the Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission may require that reservoir estates of nonconsenting owners be included in a storage facility (57-1612) once the operator has consent from owners of "at least sixty percent of the physical volume" of the storage reservoir, and only on a finding that "all nonconsenting reservoir estate owners are or will be equitably compensated" (57-1610). That Act's storage facility "does not include pipelines used to transport carbon dioxide to the storage facility" (57-1603).

For power transmission lines across farmland, Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-710.03 requires the condemner "to select a route along or following sections or one-half section lines unless such route cannot be followed without excessive and unreasonable costs to the condemner."

The condemnation process step by step

Nebraska's general procedure (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-701 to 76-726) has court-appointed appraisers set the first award.

1. Survey entry. Only "after negotiations have failed," and on proper identification after informing the owner, may a condemner enter land to examine and survey it (76-702).
2. Petition in county court. If the owner fails to agree with the condemner, the condemner may file a petition in the county court of the county where the property, or part of it, is located (76-704). The petition must include the authority for the acquisition, the necessity and purpose, the interest sought, the quantity needed, the "reasons for selecting the particular location or route," "evidence of attempts to negotiate in good faith with the property owner," and any required agency approval in writing (76-704.01).
3. Three appraisers. Within three days of the petition, the county judge or clerk magistrate appoints "three disinterested freeholders of the county," one of whom must be a credentialed real property appraiser unless none qualifies. The owner must be served notice of the appraisers' meeting "at least ten days prior to the meeting" (76-706).
4. Appraisers' report. The appraisers assess damages and file a report. The court must transmit it "within ten days of the return of appraisers" (76-710).
5. Deposit and possession. The condemner "shall not acquire any interest in or right to possession of the property condemned until he or she has deposited with the court the amount of the condemnation award in effect at the time the deposit is made." Once it deposits, the condemner is entitled to a writ of assistance to obtain possession, and the owner is liable for any loss in value caused by purposely removing real or personal property not agreed to in writing. It has 60 days from the award to deposit "or the proceeding will be considered as abandoned," and after an abandonment it may not start proceedings to condemn the same property again "within two years from the date of abandonment" (76-711). If the owner appeals and obtains more than the award, interest runs from the date of deposit at the 45-104.02 rate, compounded annually, less interest on the amount withdrawn or on the amount the condemner offers to stipulate for withdrawal (76-711).
6. Appeal. Either side may appeal the appraisers' assessment to district court "by filing a notice of appeal with the county judge within thirty days from the date of filing of the report of appraisers" (76-715).

The appeal deadline is short. Section 76-710 provides one extension: if the court fails to transmit the report on time, that failure "shall extend the condemnee's time of appeal to twenty days after such transmittal is finally made."

The notice is not the only step. The appealing party must serve a copy on all parties bound by the award and file an affidavit of that service "within five days after the filing of the notice" (76-715.01), and must give an undertaking "with at least one good and sufficient surety" when filing the notice (76-716). The first party to perfect an appeal must file a petition on appeal in district court "within fifty days after the filing of the notice of appeal," and "the appeal shall be tried de novo in the district court" (76-717).

Even after deposit, the condemner "shall not dispossess the condemnee until the condemner is ready to devote the property to a public use," and its title "shall not be complete until the property is put to the public use for which taken" (76-714). The general procedure (76-701 to 76-726) contains no section giving a former owner a right to repurchase land that is later not used. The department's power to sell excess highway land requires the Governor's approval and a sale "in such manner as will best serve the interests of the state and will most adequately conserve highway funds" (39-1325), and it gives no preference to the former owner.

The general procedure does not require a formal appraisal or written offer before filing; its pre-suit requirement is that the petition show evidence of good-faith negotiation (76-704.01(6)), which also affects fees on appeal (below).

Withdrawing the deposit

On stipulation of the parties, the county judge orders the agreed amount of the deposit paid to the owner (76-719.01). The money is not risk-free: if the compensation finally awarded is less than what the owner received, "the court shall enter judgment against the condemnee for the amount that the condemnee has been overpaid, together with interest."

A stipulated withdrawal is the route the statute provides while an appeal is pending. Interest the owner later receives is reduced by interest on the amount withdrawn, and also on an amount the condemner offered to stipulate for withdrawal: in an owner's appeal, whether or not the owner took it; in a condemner's appeal, only if the owner agreed to the stipulation (76-711). Accepting the whole award is different. The Nebraska Supreme Court has said that a party who, after appealing, "voluntarily accepts the benefits or receives the advantage of the judgment is thereby precluded from afterward prosecuting his appeal," and it upheld dismissal of an owner's appeal where the owner received the full award by mistake and did not promptly tender back the excess (McCook Livestock Exchange Co. v. State, 173 Neb. 766 (1962)). If all parties waive appeal, the county judge distributes the deposit under the appraisers' award (76-719.01).

How just compensation is calculated

Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-710.01 provides that damages "shall include all compensable damages suffered by the condemnee including but not limited to reasonable severance damages and condemnee's abstracting expenses." For severance damages, account is taken of "the economic effect, if any, caused by the severance therefrom of the part taken or sought to be taken upon the whole of such property as a going concern."

Changes in value caused by the project itself are excluded: "Any decrease or increase in the fair market value of real property prior to the date of valuation caused by the public improvement for which such property is acquired, or by the likelihood that the property would be acquired for such improvement, other than due to physical deterioration within the reasonable control of the owner, shall be disregarded."

When the taking is an easement, the damages "shall include damages for fences and crops destroyed or damaged by reason of the original construction of the improvement" (76-710).

The compensation sections of the general procedure (76-710 and 76-710.01) add no percentage bonus for a home or for long-held property.

Attorney fees and costs

Fees depend on who appeals and how the case ends. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-720, the court "may in its discretion award to the condemnee a reasonable sum for the fees of his or her attorney and for fees necessarily incurred for not more than two expert witnesses" in three situations:

• the owner appeals and the final judgment is "greater by fifteen percent than the amount of the award";
• the condemner appeals and the final judgment "is not less than eighty-five percent of the award"; or
• both appeal and the final judgment "is greater in any amount than the award."

Costs run the other way too. "On any appeal by the condemner, the condemner shall pay all court costs on appeal." If only the owner appeals and the final judgment is not equal to or greater than the appraisers' award, the court "may in its discretion award to the condemner the court costs incurred by the condemner, but not attorney or expert witness fees" (76-720).

The award becomes mandatory in one setting: if the district court on appeal "finds that the condemner did not negotiate in good faith with the property owner or there was no public purpose for taking the property involved, the court shall award to the condemnee a reasonable sum for the fees of his or her attorney and the condemner shall pay all court costs on appeal."

Section 76-726 separately requires reimbursement of reasonable costs, including "attorney's, appraisal, and engineering fees," when a proceeding brought by an agency (as defined in 76-1217) ends with a judgment that the agency cannot acquire the property, or when the agency abandons it. Other statutes may carry their own fee rules.

Inverse condemnation

If a condemner "shall have taken or damaged property for public use without instituting condemnation proceedings," the owner, "in addition to any other available remedy, may file a petition with the county judge" to have the damages determined (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-705). Under 76-726(2), the court must award the owner reasonable costs, including attorney's, appraisal and engineering fees, if it "renders a judgment in favor of the condemnee" or "a settlement is effected." Section 76-705 itself sets no deadline. The Nebraska Supreme Court has held that a 76-705 inverse-condemnation proceeding is governed by the 10-year period in 25-202 (Krambeck v. City of Gretna, 198 Neb. 608 (1977)), but that claims of inverse condemnation against the State are governed by the 2-year limit in Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-218, which bars a claim against the state "unless action is brought thereon within two years after the claim arose" (Hike v. State, 297 Neb. 212 (2017)).

Relocation assistance

Nebraska's Relocation Assistance Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-1214 to 76-1242) defines the agencies it covers in 76-1217, and that definition includes "any person who has the authority to acquire property by eminent domain under state law." Under 76-1231, the displacing agency must make an additional payment "not to exceed twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars" to a person displaced from a dwelling "actually owned and occupied by such displaced person for at least one hundred and eighty days prior to the initiation of negotiations for the acquisition of the property." That payment includes the amount needed, added to the acquisition price, to buy a comparable replacement dwelling, increased financing costs, closing costs, and three years of increased property taxes, and it is made only to a person who buys and occupies a replacement dwelling within one year, a period the agency may extend for good cause (76-1231, 76-1232).

The Act's other payments include actual reasonable moving expenses, with reestablishment expenses for a farm, nonprofit organization or small business capped at $10,000 (76-1228); for a business or farm, an optional fixed payment in place of those expenses of at least $1,000 but not more than $20,000 (76-1230); and for an occupant of at least 90 days who does not get the 76-1231 payment, rental assistance of up to $5,250 (76-1233). The agency "may exceed the maximum amounts" under 76-1231 to 76-1233 "on a case-by-case basis for good cause" (76-1234).

Federal layer

In Kelo v. City of New London (2005), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a taking under an economic development plan that served a public purpose satisfied the Fifth Amendment's public-use requirement, and stressed that nothing in its opinion "precludes any State from placing further restrictions on its exercise of the takings power." Federal law also requires a state agency that receives federal financial assistance for a project to give assurances that it will be guided, "to the greatest extent practicable under State law," by the federal land acquisition policies in 42 U.S.C. 4651 (42 U.S.C. 4655). Our eminent domain laws by state guide covers the federal rules in more detail.

Deadlines and Traps for Nebraska Owners

Nebraska Easement and Eminent Domain Rules at a Glance

Related Nebraska Guides

• Easement laws by state
• Eminent domain laws by state
• Nebraska squatters' rights and adverse possession
• Nebraska property records
• Nebraska quitclaim deed requirements

This article is general legal information about Nebraska law, not legal advice. Easement and condemnation disputes turn on specific facts, deeds and deadlines. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Nebraska.

Last updated: 2026-10-19.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to get a prescriptive easement in Nebraska?

Nebraska uses a 10-year prescriptive period, the same period Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-202 sets for actions to recover land. The Nebraska Supreme Court requires every element to be proved by clear, convincing and satisfactory evidence (Fischer v. Grinsbergs, 1977).

Who has to prove permission in a Nebraska prescriptive easement case?

Once the claimant shows open, visible, continuous and unmolested use for the 10-year period, Nebraska generally presumes the use was under a claim of right, and the landowner has the burden of showing the use was permissive, which it can do by a preponderance of the evidence (Fischer v. Grinsbergs, quoting Smith v. Bixby). Use of unenclosed land that an owner lets the public or neighbors generally use is instead presumed permissive. The claimant still bears the burden of proving every element by clear, convincing and satisfactory evidence.

What can I do if my land is landlocked in Nebraska?

Neb. Rev. Stat. 39-1713 to 39-1719 let an owner of land shut out from public access petition the county board for an access road open to the general public. The board must find the land was not isolated when bought (or came directly from the State), the owner did not cause the isolation, and access is needed for existing use; the petitioner pays the damages and, for land acquired after January 1, 1982, the county's engineering and construction costs. Separately, Nebraska courts recognize a common-law way of necessity, which requires strict necessity and usually arises when a division of land leaves a parcel entirely surrounded (Hillary Corp. v. United States Cold Storage, 1996); in a title-insurance case, the Nebraska Supreme Court held that implied easements remained inchoate until a court decree recognized them (Woodle v. Commonwealth Land Title Ins. Co., 2014).

Can a neighbor move an easement on their land in Nebraska?

Without the holder's consent, only through a court. Under the Uniform Easement Relocation Act, adopted in 2021, the servient owner must file a civil action, obtain and record a court order, and pay the reasonable expenses of relocation. The court may approve the move only if it does not materially lessen the easement's utility, increase the holder's burden, impair its purpose or safety, or harm the dominant estate or a recorded lender's or other recorded interest, among other conditions. The Act cannot be used for public utility, conservation or negative easements or for certain irrigation, reclamation and canal easements (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-2,129 to 76-2,133).

Can Nebraska take private property for economic development?

Not when economic development is the primary purpose. Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-710.04 bars those takings, but it does not affect projects that make the property available to the public or for use as a right-of-way, pipeline or transmission line, takings for use by a utility or railroad, blight takings of land that is not agricultural or horticultural, and other purposes the statute lists.

How long do I have to appeal a condemnation award in Nebraska?

A notice of appeal to district court must be filed with the county judge within 30 days from the filing of the appraisers' report (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-715). If the court fails to transmit the report on time, the owner's appeal time extends to 20 days after it is finally transmitted (76-710). The appealing party must also serve the notice and file an affidavit of service within five days (76-715.01), give an undertaking with a surety (76-716), and the first party to perfect an appeal must file a petition in district court within 50 days after the notice (76-717).

Does Nebraska pay attorney fees in eminent domain cases?

On an owner's appeal, the court may award attorney fees and up to two expert witness fees if the final judgment is greater than the appraisers' award by 15 percent, and it must award attorney fees if it finds the condemner did not negotiate in good faith or had no public purpose (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-720). If only the owner appeals and the final judgment does not equal or exceed the award, the court may charge the owner the condemner's court costs, but not its attorney or expert witness fees. Section 76-726 also requires costs and fees when an agency cannot condemn or abandons, and when an owner wins or settles an inverse-condemnation petition.

When can the condemner take possession in Nebraska?

Not until it deposits the appraisers' award with the court; once it does, it is entitled to a writ of assistance to obtain possession. It has 60 days from the award to deposit, or the proceeding is treated as abandoned and cannot be started again for two years (Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-711).