Nebraska Public Records Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-712 to 84-712.09)
– Nebraska residents and other interested persons may examine public records and request copies (§ 84-712(1)).
– Within 4 business days of receiving a written request, the agency must give you a cost estimate and then do one of three things: provide the records, deny in writing citing the legal basis, or explain the delay and give the earliest practicable date (§ 84-712(4)).
– After the cost estimate, the requester has 10 business days to respond; if the requester does not respond, the custodian shall not proceed (§ 84-712(4)).
– Fees are limited to the actual added cost. For Nebraska residents, the first 8 cumulative hours of staff time for searching, identifying, redacting or copying are not charged (§ 84-712(3)(c)). Nonresidents are treated differently.
– If you’re denied, you can petition the Nebraska Attorney General to review it, or ask the district court for a writ of mandamus (§ 84-712.03).
Request template: “Under the Nebraska Public Records Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-712, I request copies of (describe the records) from (date range). Please send them electronically to (your email). If any part is withheld, cite the specific exemption and release all parts that can be separated. Please tell me in advance if fees will exceed (dollar amount). (Your name)”
Where to send requests
– City of Omaha / OPD records: cityofomaha.org (public records request portal)
– Douglas County: send requests to the records custodian of the specific department
– Douglas County Attorney, Sheriff, Department of Corrections
– Nebraska State Patrol
– Nebraska Dept. of Correctional Services
Court records
– Nebraska JUSTICE (nebraska.gov/justice): state trial court cases; a paid login may be required for clerk docket searches
– Douglas County District Court Clerk (copies of filings)
– Federal court: PACER (pacer.uscourts.gov) and the free CourtListener/RECAP archive
– Nebraska appellate opinions: supremecourt.nebraska.gov
Oversight & data
– The Nebraska Crime Commission publishes annual traffic-stop reports and agency and county data (ncc.nebraska.gov/traffic-stops-nebraska), annual Crime in Nebraska reports (ncc.nebraska.gov/state-reports; the 2025 report is at https://ncc.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/2025%20Crime%20in%20Nebraska.pdf), and an offense data query (https://www.nebraska.gov/crime_commission/arrest/offense.cgi).
– Omaha City Council agendas, minutes and video
– Douglas County Board agendas
– Nebraska Legislature bills and hearing transcripts (nebraskalegislature.gov)
– Nebraska Attorney General public-records opinions
Federal records: FOIA.gov requests to FBI, DOJ and other federal agencies.
Omaha, Nebraska
