Nebraska Expungement

Expungement is the process of legally destroying or eliminating arrest and conviction records found in files and on computers. This can also include any other files associated with an individual's criminal history.

Nebraska Expungement Eligibility
In the state of Nebraska any individual who has been arrested as a result of an error by a law enforcement system can have his or her records expunged. A petition can be filed to the district court for an order of criminal history expungement. This will include all the information associated with the wrongful arrest. Petitions must be filed to the district court of the county where the individual was arrested. The county attorney must also be served a petition and be named as the respondent.

The district court will only grant a petition if the individual in question has shown significant and clear evidence that he or she was wrongfully arrested by a law enforcement agency.

Registered Sex Offenders
Any individual who has the necessity of registering under the Sex Offender Registration Act may also file for an expungement petition to the district court. This does not include individuals who are required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act for their lifetime. Under these circumstances expungement may be granted as an individual's necessity to register has expired; an individual no longer has pending criminal charges and is no longer under criminal investigation for any offense under section 29-4003 for registration; and an individual who is not a substantial risk for committing another offense to be registered.

Following expungement all portions of this kind of criminal history, including any arrest notion, will not be accessible to the public but only those under the criminal justice agencies. Such records may resurface if the record becomes the correctional control or prosecution subject due to a separate arrest; if the individual is to announce candidacy for public office; if a notarized request has been made for the release of the record to a specific individual; or in the use of the filed information for summarizing the dates of arrest, the reasons for arrest, and the nature of the dispositions for not prosecuting the cases at hand.

No Need for Expungement
Even after an arrest has been made and goes on public record, there are instances where expungement is not needed to eliminate a record from public viewing. These include the case of an arrest where no charges were filed as determined by the attorney of prosecution and the arrest record will be eliminated after one year on the public record; in the case of an arrest where charges were not filed due to a completed diversion and the arrest record will be eliminated from public file after two years; and in the case of an arrest where charges were filed and dismissed by the court as motioned by the prosecuting attorney or as a result of not hearing the subject of the appeal. In this final circumstance all evidence of the arrest will be eliminated from public files after three years.

See also:
Nebraska Felony External link (opens in new window)
Nebraska Misdemeanors External link (opens in new window)
Nebraska Gun Laws External link (opens in new window)