Nebraska Manslaughter and Motor Vehicle Homicide Laws (2026)

Nebraska has one manslaughter offense, Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-305: a person commits manslaughter if he or she "kills another without malice upon a sudden quarrel or causes the death of another unintentionally while in the commission of an unlawful act." Manslaughter is a Class IIA felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison with no minimum term (28-105(1)); deaths caused by driving are a separate, graded offense, motor vehicle homicide (28-306), which runs from a Class I misdemeanor up to a Class II felony when DUI, or driving during certain licence revocations, is the proximate cause of the death and the driver has a qualifying prior conviction.

For other states, see our guide to manslaughter laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-18. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers the Nebraska statutes on homicide below murder: manslaughter (Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-305), motor vehicle homicide (28-306), the unborn-child manslaughter and motor vehicle homicide offenses (28-393, 28-394), and the related sentencing, licence and traffic statutes. It does not cover murder (see how long a life sentence is in Nebraska and our overview of murder sentencing guidelines), self-defense (see Nebraska self-defense laws), civil lawsuits by surviving family (see Nebraska wrongful death law), or federal offenses, which the manslaughter laws hub covers.

What is manslaughter in Nebraska?

The whole statute is two sentences:

"(1) A person commits manslaughter if he or she kills another without malice upon a sudden quarrel or causes the death of another unintentionally while in the commission of an unlawful act. (2) Manslaughter is a Class IIA felony." Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-305

The statute itself does not use the words voluntary and involuntary. The Nebraska Supreme Court supplied them. The official annotation to 28-305 summarizes State v. Pettit, 233 Neb. 436 (1989), as holding that subsection (1) establishes two categories: an unlawful killing without malice "upon a sudden quarrel," which "may be characterized as voluntary manslaughter," and an unlawful but unintentional killing without malice as the result of the defendant's commission of an unlawful act, which "may be characterized as involuntary manslaughter."

Article 3 of Chapter 28 contains no criminally negligent homicide offense and no separate DUI manslaughter offense. Below murder, the homicide offenses include manslaughter (28-305), motor vehicle homicide (28-306) and the two unborn-child offenses (28-393, 28-394).

Is manslaughter a felony in Nebraska?

Yes. Section 28-305(2) makes manslaughter a Class IIA felony in every case, whichever form it takes. Motor vehicle homicide is different: it is a Class I misdemeanor unless one of the felony conditions in 28-306(3) applies.

Nebraska manslaughter and homicide offenses at a glance

Nebraska sets the range for each felony class in Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-105(1). It lists the Class II felony at a maximum of fifty years and a minimum of one year, and the Class IIA felony at a maximum of twenty years with no minimum. Misdemeanor ranges are in 28-106, which sets the Class I misdemeanor at "not more than one year imprisonment, or one thousand dollars fine, or both." For how Nebraska sentences every class, see Nebraska felony and misdemeanor classes.

Voluntary manslaughter: killing upon a sudden quarrel

Nebraska's statute does not use "heat of passion." The words are "without malice upon a sudden quarrel," and the Nebraska Supreme Court reads them objectively. In State v. Esch, 315 Neb. 482 (2023), the court wrote:

"Whether a defendant committed manslaughter by sudden quarrel has always been an objective inquiry in Nebraska that requires reasonable and adequate provocation, and intoxication has long been recognized as inadequate provocation as a matter of law."

The jury instruction quoted in that opinion defined the term this way: "Sudden quarrel means sufficient provocation which causes a reasonable person to lose normal self-control." The jury in Esch convicted of first-degree murder; the case is cited here only for the court's description of the sudden-quarrel test.

Panic defense. Section 28-305 contains no language on a victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. LB321, introduced in the 107th Legislature in 2021, would have barred those characteristics as a defense; its history reads "Apr 20, 2022 Indefinitely postponed."

Self-defense and justification are separate questions; see Nebraska self-defense laws.

Involuntary manslaughter: an unintentional death during an unlawful act

The second limb of 28-305 reaches a person who "causes the death of another unintentionally while in the commission of an unlawful act." The statute does not name a mental state, and the leading modern case fills that gap.

In State v. Carman, 292 Neb. 207 (2015), the Nebraska Supreme Court held:

"In order to sustain a conviction for involuntary manslaughter or unlawful act manslaughter under § 28-305, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with the requisite mens rea in committing the unlawful act. ... This conclusion does not require us to define precisely what criminal intent is required for involuntary manslaughter. However, sources examining the subject almost invariably agree that more than ordinary negligence in the civil sense is required to support such convictions."

Carman involved a vehicle death charged as manslaughter on the basis of traffic infractions. The court explained that the State may choose which offense to charge, but "in exercising its discretion to charge under one offense or another, the State must prove each element of that offense beyond a reasonable doubt," and that the traffic infractions behind the manslaughter charge "were public welfare offenses." The court reversed and remanded with directions to vacate the conviction.

Recklessness defined. Nebraska's Criminal Code defines recklessly in 28-109(20):

"Recklessly shall mean acting with respect to a material element of an offense when any person disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his or her conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to the actor, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in the actor's situation;"

Section 28-109 contains no definition of criminal negligence or negligently.

Vehicular manslaughter and DUI deaths: motor vehicle homicide

Nebraska's term for vehicular manslaughter is motor vehicle homicide. The base offense is in 28-306(1)-(2):

"(1) A person who causes the death of another unintentionally while engaged in the operation of a motor vehicle in violation of the law of the State of Nebraska or in violation of any city or village ordinance commits motor vehicle homicide. (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, motor vehicle homicide is a Class I misdemeanor."

The official annotations to 28-306 summarize two decisions on how it fits with manslaughter: "Misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide is a public welfare offense which does not require proof of mens rea" (State v. Perina, 282 Neb. 463 (2011)), and "Motor vehicle homicide is not a lesser-included offense of manslaughter under current statutes" (State v. Wright, 261 Neb. 277 (2001)).

The felony grades

Section 28-306(3) raises the grade according to what was the proximate cause of the death:

• Reckless driving, Class IIIA felony (3)(a): the proximate cause is driving in violation of 60-6,213 (reckless driving, driving "in such a manner as to indicate an indifferent or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property") or 60-6,214 (willful reckless driving, a "willful disregard" for that safety). Under 60-6,213(2), evidence that a person was driving "in excess of double the maximum lawful speed limit shall be prima facie evidence" of reckless driving.
• DUI or driving while revoked, Class IIA felony (3)(b): the proximate cause is driving in violation of 60-6,196 or 60-6,197.06. Section 60-6,196 makes it unlawful to operate or be in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcoholic liquor or any drug, or with a concentration of .08 grams or more of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or per 210 liters of breath. Section 60-6,197.06 is operating a motor vehicle while the licence is revoked under 28-306, 60-698, 60-6,198 or the DUI-revocation provisions of 60-6,197.03, so a death proximately caused by driving during such a revocation is graded the same way, with no intoxication element.
• With a prior conviction, Class II felony (3)(c): the (3)(b) form where the defendant "has a prior conviction for a violation of section 60-6,196 or 60-6,197.06, under a city or village ordinance enacted in conformance with section 60-6,196, or under a law of another state if, at the time of the conviction under the law of such other state, the offense for which the defendant was convicted would have been a violation of section 60-6,196."

Section 28-306 sets no mandatory prison term for any grade. The Class II felony carries a statutory minimum of one year under 28-105(1).

Licence consequences

"(4)(a) For a conviction under subsection (2) or subdivision (3)(a) of this section, the court may, as part of the judgment of conviction, order the person not to drive any motor vehicle for any purpose for a period of up to two years and order that the operator's license of such person be revoked for the same period. (b) For a conviction under subdivision (3)(b) or (c) of this section, the court shall, as part of the judgment of conviction, order the person not to drive any motor vehicle for any purpose for a period of fifteen years and shall order that the operator's license of such person be revoked for the same period." Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-306(4)

Driving while a licence is revoked under 28-306, 60-698, 60-6,198 or the DUI provisions of 60-6,197.03 is itself a Class IV felony under 60-6,197.06 (a Class IIA felony for a repeat violation), with a 15-year revocation. A DUI crash that causes serious bodily injury but no death is a Class IIIA felony under 60-6,198; for DUI penalties when no one is hurt, see Nebraska DUI laws.

Leaving the scene, fleeing police and racing

• Leaving the scene: a driver involved in an accident "resulting in injury or death to any person" must immediately stop at the scene and meet the duties in 60-697. A violation is a Class III felony "if the accident resulted in the death of any person or serious bodily injury" (60-698(1)(b)), and the court must order a driving ban and revocation "for a period of not less than one year nor more than fifteen years" (60-698(2)). See Nebraska hit-and-run laws.
• Fleeing to avoid arrest: operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest is a Class IV felony if "the flight to avoid arrest results directly and proximately in the death of or injury to any person if such death or injury is caused directly and proximately by the vehicle being driven by the person fleeing" (28-905(3)(a)(ii)), with a two-year licence revocation or impoundment (28-905(3)(b)).
• Racing: racing on highways is a Class II misdemeanor under 60-6,195(3), and that section has no separate grade for a resulting death.

Unborn-child homicide offenses

Nebraska has a parallel ladder of offenses for the death of an unborn child (28-390 to 28-394). Manslaughter of an unborn child is a Class IIA felony under 28-393:

"(1) A person commits manslaughter of an unborn child if he or she (a) kills an unborn child without malice upon a sudden quarrel with any person or (b) causes the death of an unborn child unintentionally while in the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate any criminal assault, any sexual assault, arson, robbery, kidnapping, intentional child abuse, hijacking of any public or private means of transportation, or burglary. (2) Manslaughter of an unborn child is a Class IIA felony."

The unintentional limb of 28-393 is narrower than 28-305: it requires one of the listed crimes, not any unlawful act.

Motor vehicle homicide of an unborn child (28-394) uses the same four grades as 28-306: a Class I misdemeanor, a Class IIIA felony for reckless or willful reckless driving, a Class IIA felony when DUI or driving during a 60-6,197.06 revocation is the proximate cause, and a Class II felony for that form with a prior conviction under 60-6,196 or a conforming city or village ordinance. 2025 LB530 set those two grades, raising them from a Class IIIA and a Class IIA felony; offenses committed before the act took effect were sentenced under the earlier grades. For those forms, the revocation period is "at least sixty days and not more than fifteen years."

Under 28-390, the unborn-child offenses do not apply to conduct "(1) Committed or engaged in by the mother of the unborn child; (2) Any medical procedure performed with the consent of the mother; or (3) Dispensing a drug or device in accordance with law or administering a drug or device prescribed in accordance with law."

Other offenses graded by a resulting death

• Murder of an unborn child: 28-391 (first degree, Class IA felony) and 28-392 (second degree, Class IB felony).
• Child abuse resulting in death: 28-707(6), (8); Class IIA felony if committed negligently, Class IB felony if committed knowingly and intentionally.
• Drug delivery causing death: 28-416(17); a delivery violation that "directly and proximately caused the death of, or serious bodily injury to, another person" is punished at the next higher penalty class, never above a Class IB felony. Nebraska has no separate drug-induced homicide offense.
• Assisting suicide: 28-307; Class IV felony.
• Swatting resulting in death: 28-907.01(3)(c); Class IB felony (a new offense created by Laws 2026, LB935, operative July 18, 2026).
• Knowingly and intentionally providing alcohol to a minor, death or serious bodily injury results: 53-180.05(2); Class IIIA felony with a mandatory minimum of 30 days' imprisonment.
• Exposing a child or vulnerable adult to methamphetamine, death results: 28-457(5); Class IB felony.
• Using explosives to kill or injure, death results: 28-1224(4); punished as for first degree murder (see murder laws in the United States).
• DUI causing serious bodily injury: 60-6,198; Class IIIA felony with revocation of 60 days to 15 years (a death is charged under 28-306).

Sentencing rules that apply to manslaughter

Minimum and maximum terms. For a Class IIA or Class II felony, the court "shall fix the minimum and the maximum terms of the sentence to be served within the limits provided by law" (29-2204(1)). Class III, IIIA and IV felonies are excluded from that rule.

Probation. Under 28-105(4), "A person convicted of a felony for which a mandatory minimum sentence is prescribed shall not be eligible for probation." The Class IIA range lists no minimum.

Firearm add-on. Using a firearm to commit any felony is a separate Class IC felony under 28-1205(1)(c), carrying a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 50 years (28-105(1)). Using another deadly weapon is a Class II felony (28-1205(1)(b)). Possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony is a separate Class II felony, and possessing another deadly weapon a Class III felony (28-1205(2)). A sentence under 28-1205 "shall be consecutive to any other sentence imposed" (28-1205(4)). The section was amended in 2026 by LB935 (operative July 18, 2026) and LB965 (operative October 1, 2026).

Habitual criminal. Under 29-2221(1), a person who has twice been convicted and committed to prison for terms of at least one year each, and is then convicted of a felony in Nebraska, faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 60 years. The minimum rises to 25 years for listed repeat combinations. Manslaughter under 28-305 is not on that list, but felony motor vehicle homicide under 28-306(3) is: the 25-year minimum applies when the new felony is a 28-306(3) offense and the prior convictions include a 28-306(3) offense and a listed offense, or when the new felony is a listed offense and both priors are 28-306(3) offenses (29-2221(1)(b)).

Parole eligibility and good time. A committed offender becomes eligible for parole at the earliest of three points: after serving one-half of the minimum term; two years before the mandatory discharge date, for a maximum term of 20 years or less; or after serving 80 percent of the time until the mandatory discharge date, for a maximum term of more than 20 years (83-1,110(1)). The Department of Correctional Services reduces the term "by six months for each year of the offender's term and pro rata for any part thereof which is less than a year" (83-1,107(2)(a)). Mandatory minimum terms are not reduced (83-1,110(2)).

Sex offender registration. A manslaughter conviction under 28-305 on or after January 1, 2010, is a registrable offense under the Sex Offender Registration Act only if "a court shall have found that evidence of sexual penetration or sexual contact ... was present in the record" (29-4003(1)(b)(i)(A)(III), (B)).

Recent changes

• 2026 LB972 (approved April 14, 2026; operative July 18, 2026) amended 28-306. Its title describes changing "suspension of operator's licenses to revocation of operator's licenses relating to certain judgments of conviction," and 28-306(4)(a) now provides that the licence "be revoked" for the up-to-two-year period.
• 2025 LB530 (enacted in 2025; approved June 4, 2025) raised motor vehicle homicide of an unborn child (28-394) from a Class IIIA to a Class IIA felony for the DUI or revoked-driving form, and from a Class IIA to a Class II felony for that form with a prior conviction. It replaced the driving ban and revocation of "at least one year and not more than fifteen years" for the Class IIA form of motor vehicle homicide (28-306(3)(b)) with the mandatory 15-year order now in 28-306(4)(b). It also amended the reckless-driving statute, 60-6,213, which now includes the double-the-speed-limit prima facie rule, and added a penalty enhancement for a controlled-substance violation resulting in serious bodily injury or death, now 28-416(17). Offenses committed before the act took effect were sentenced under the earlier rules.
• Section 28-305 itself was last amended by Laws 2015, LB605.

Federal law, 18 U.S.C. 1112, separately covers manslaughter on federal land and in other federal jurisdictions; the manslaughter laws hub explains it.

Related pages

• Manslaughter laws by state
• Nebraska felony and misdemeanor classes
• Nebraska DUI laws
• Nebraska hit-and-run laws
• The difference between murder, homicide and manslaughter
• Iowa manslaughter laws
• South Dakota manslaughter laws

This article provides general legal information about Nebraska law as of 2026-10-18. It is not legal advice. For a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Nebraska.

Last updated: 2026-10-18.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is manslaughter a felony in Nebraska?

Yes. Manslaughter under Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-305 is always a Class IIA felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison with no minimum (28-105(1)). Motor vehicle homicide (28-306) is a misdemeanor in its base form and a felony only in the circumstances listed in 28-306(3).

What is the sentence for manslaughter in Nebraska?

Up to 20 years in prison, with no statutory minimum (28-105(1)). The court sets a minimum and a maximum term within that limit (29-2204(1)). A habitual-criminal finding under 29-2221 raises the range to a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 60.

What is the difference between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter in Nebraska?

Section 28-305 does not use those labels; the Nebraska Supreme Court does. Voluntary manslaughter is killing another without malice upon a sudden quarrel. Involuntary manslaughter is causing a death unintentionally while committing an unlawful act, which requires proof of the mens rea for that act (State v. Carman, 2015).

What is vehicular manslaughter in Nebraska?

Nebraska calls it motor vehicle homicide (28-306): causing a death unintentionally while operating a motor vehicle in violation of state law or a local ordinance. It is a Class I misdemeanor, a Class IIIA felony when reckless or willful reckless driving is the proximate cause, a Class IIA felony when DUI, or driving during a licence revocation covered by 60-6,197.06, is the proximate cause, and a Class II felony for that form with a qualifying prior conviction.

What is the penalty for a DUI death in Nebraska?

When driving under the influence (60-6,196), or driving during a licence revocation covered by 60-6,197.06, is the proximate cause of a death, motor vehicle homicide is a Class IIA felony (up to 20 years). With a qualifying prior conviction it is a Class II felony (1 to 50 years). For either, the court must order a 15-year driving ban and licence revocation (28-306(4)(b)).

Can a traffic ticket support a manslaughter charge in Nebraska?

In State v. Carman (2015), the Nebraska Supreme Court held that unlawful-act manslaughter requires proof of the mens rea for the unlawful act; the State had not shown it where the charge rested on traffic infractions, which the court called public welfare offenses, and the conviction was reversed. Motor vehicle homicide under 28-306 requires no proof of mens rea in its misdemeanor form.

Is intoxication provocation for manslaughter in Nebraska?

No. In State v. Esch (2023), the Nebraska Supreme Court said the sudden-quarrel test is objective, requires reasonable and adequate provocation, and that intoxication is inadequate provocation as a matter of law.

What happens if a driver leaves the scene of a fatal crash in Nebraska?

Failing to stop and meet the duties in 60-697 after an accident that results in a death or serious bodily injury is a Class III felony, and the court must revoke the licence for 1 to 15 years (60-698).