Lancaster County District Court

The Third Judicial District

Nebraska groups its district courts into judicial districts. The Lancaster County District Court is the Third Judicial District, and that district serves Lancaster County only. The court covers Lincoln plus the smaller towns and townships around it, including Bennet, Denton, Hickman, and Waverly. It serves a population of more than 317,000 people, the second-largest base in the state after Douglas County.

The bench is staffed by eight district judges, one referee, and two staff attorneys. Each judge sits in a numbered courtroom on the third floor of the Justice and Law Enforcement Center at 575 South 10th Street. The referee handles a set of assigned matters and sits in Courtroom 38. The court schedules its hearings through the statewide JUSTICE case management system, so its calendars and case files appear in the same tools used for every other Nebraska court.

The county courts landing page links the District Court, the County Court, the Separate Juvenile Court, the Clerk of the District Court, and the online record tools in one place. Most users start there. The Third Judicial District Court page lists the court's jurisdiction, the communities it serves, the judge and referee count, and the main contact details.

Jurisdiction of the Lancaster County District Court

The District Court is a court of general jurisdiction. That means it can hear almost any kind of case the law allows, with a focus on the most serious matters. Felonies move here after a preliminary hearing in County Court binds the case over. Divorce, custody, paternity, and child support cases are filed here as domestic relations cases. Equity suits, such as injunctions and quiet-title actions, also belong to the District Court.

Civil money cases split by dollar amount. The District Court hears civil cases over $70,000. From July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2030, the County Court shares jurisdiction over civil cases up to $70,000, so some mid-size suits can be filed in either court. Adult name changes are usually District Court records. The court also reviews appeals from some County Court cases and from most state administrative agencies.

The case types most often pulled from Lancaster County District Court records are listed below. Each carries its own document set and its own access rules.

• Felony criminal cases after bind-over from County Court, including the information, bond, plea, motions, orders, and sentence.
• Domestic relations cases such as divorce, custody, paternity, and child support, with the decree and parenting plan.
• Equity suits, including injunctions, foreclosures, and quiet-title actions.
• Civil suits over $70,000, with complaints, answers, judgments, garnishments, and liens.
• Appeals from some County Court cases and from state administrative agency rulings.
• Adult name changes, including the petition, proof of publication, and decree.

Note: a civil suit near the $70,000 line may sit in either court during the shared-jurisdiction window, so check both court tracks when a case is hard to find.

Judges and Courtrooms in Lancaster County

Eight district judges and one referee staff the Lancaster County District Court. Each sits in a numbered courtroom from 30 through 38 on the third floor of the courthouse. The table below lists the courtroom number, the judge or referee assigned to it, and the direct phone line for that chambers. These phone numbers reach the judge's staff, not the clerk's record desk.

The Sheriff's Court Services Division secures the campus and staffs eight district courtrooms plus the District Court referee courtroom. To confirm a courtroom assignment or a judge change, the judges and referee directory on the county site lists the current bench, the bailiffs, the court reporters, and the chambers phone lines for each courtroom.

How to Search Lancaster County District Court Records

District Court case files are part of the Nebraska Judicial Branch case system called JUSTICE. The same system holds criminal, civil, domestic relations, and equity cases from every district court in the state. There is no separate county-built portal for Lancaster, so a District Court records search runs through the statewide tools. The JUSTICE One-Time Court Case Search is the quickest route for a single name. It costs $17 and returns up to 30 cases.

Frequent users open a Nebraska.gov subscriber account instead. General case lists are free for subscribers, and detail views run $2 each. Free walk-in terminals also exist at the courthouse and at Bennett Martin Public Library in downtown Lincoln. Start with the party's full legal name and the rough year of the case. A case prefix such as CR for felony or DR for domestic relations helps narrow a common name.

The deeper steps for using JUSTICE, the full search-field table, and the sample record fields all live on the Lancaster County court records page. For day-by-day hearing schedules, the court dockets page covers calendar lookups by date or party name.

The Nebraska Judicial Branch keeps a public directory for the Lancaster District Court with its address, phone, and hours. The Lancaster District Court directory from the state branch confirms the contact details and the court's place in the statewide system.

The state directory page is a reliable cross-check when a phone number or office hour on a local page looks out of date, since the Judicial Branch updates it for every court.

How a Case Moves Through the System

Nebraska's trial courts feed upward through a clear chain. A felony usually starts in County Court for the preliminary hearing, then binds over to District Court for trial and sentencing. A civil suit or a divorce is filed straight into District Court. From there, a losing party may appeal. Appeals go to the Nebraska Court of Appeals, and a further review may reach the Nebraska Supreme Court.

The basic flow for most Lancaster County cases is short. County Court → District Court → Nebraska Court of Appeals → Nebraska Supreme Court. Not every case touches every step. A divorce that no one appeals ends at the District Court. A felony that is never appealed ends after sentencing in District Court.

The numbered steps below show the common path for a felony, which is the case type that crosses the most courts.

1. Arrest and charge filing route the case to the Lancaster County Court for the first appearance and bond.
2. The County Court holds a preliminary hearing and, if probable cause is found, binds the felony over to District Court.
3. The District Court handles arraignment, motions, trial or plea, and sentencing.
4. A party who loses may appeal to the Nebraska Court of Appeals within the time the rules allow.
5. The Nebraska Supreme Court may take the case for final review in limited situations.

The Nebraska Judicial Branch publishes a flowchart that maps this chain for every case type. The branch overview explains how judicial power splits among the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the District Courts, the County Courts, and the Separate Juvenile Courts.

District Court vs County Court vs Separate Juvenile Court

Lancaster County is one of only three Nebraska counties with all three local trial-court tracks. Douglas and Sarpy are the other two. Knowing which court holds a file saves time, because each court keeps its own records and uses a different clerk. The table below sets the three courts side by side on the points that matter most for a records search.

The County Court handles the high-volume, lower-stakes work: misdemeanors, traffic, probate, guardianship, conservatorship, adoption, and small claims. It also runs the preliminary hearings that decide whether a felony moves up. The Separate Juvenile Court is a court of record for neglected, dependent, and delinquent children, plus some custody and support matters. A juvenile adjudication is not a criminal conviction, and juvenile records are not open to the general public.

The Nebraska Judicial Branch keeps a plain page on County Court jurisdiction. The County Court jurisdiction page describes the limited-jurisdiction work that stays below the District Court level.

Specialty and Problem-Solving Courts

The Lancaster County courts page lists three problem-solving courts under the District Court. These are structured alternatives to a standard sentence for eligible defendants. They are run with judicial monitoring, treatment, testing, and regular review hearings. The Nebraska Supreme Court oversees problem-solving courts statewide, so they follow the same general framework across the state.

The three District Court programs are Adult Drug Court, DUI Court, and Veterans Treatment Court. Each serves a different group and carries its own eligibility rules.

• Adult Drug Court serves eligible defendants whose offenses tie to substance use. It uses treatment, drug and alcohol testing, probation, incentives, sanctions, and graduation.
• DUI Court is for higher-risk impaired-driving cases. It is not a simple ticket-payment option. It uses treatment, testing, interlock or DMV compliance where ordered, and review hearings.
• Veterans Treatment Court serves eligible veterans where service, trauma, mental health, or substance use issues meet the criminal justice system. It coordinates VA and community treatment with mentoring and probation.

Records from these programs may show the referral, status reviews, sanctions, compliance notes, and completion or termination. Detailed eligibility, participant counts, and program manuals are not posted on the public county pages, so contact the District Court directly for those.

Filing in the Lancaster County District Court

Most new District Court cases are filed electronically through the Nebraska Judicial Branch eFiling system. Attorneys file through their registered accounts. Self-represented filers can use the public eFiling option or file on paper at the Clerk of the District Court counter. The clerk's office is on the third floor of 575 South 10th Street and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Filing fees follow the statewide Nebraska Supreme Court schedule, not a separate county rate. The current filing fees and court costs schedule took effect July 1, 2025 and lists a fee for each case type. Copy fees, certification fees, and a credit-card service charge apply on top of the base filing fee. Inspection of an open file at the counter is free.

The Clerk of the District Court, Simon G. Rezac, keeps the District Court dockets, processes judgments, collects child support and other support payments, and maintains the criminal, civil, and juvenile case records. The Clerk of the District Court page covers the request methods, the forms, and the certified-copy steps in full.

Courthouse Location and Contact

The District Court sits in the Justice and Law Enforcement Center in downtown Lincoln. The court is on the third floor. The County Court shares the same street address, and the Separate Juvenile Court is one floor up. The campus is a secured facility, so plan for X-ray and metal-detector screening at the entrance and bring a government photo ID.

Free street parking sits around the campus, with metered stalls on 10th Street and nearby public garages at Carriage Park and Center Park. Visitors should confirm whether their business is at the District Court counter, the County Court, or the County Clerk at 555 South 10th Street, because Lincoln's justice offices are close together but not interchangeable. Request any ADA or interpreter help from the court before the hearing date.

Appeals From the District Court

A party who loses in the Lancaster County District Court can appeal. Most appeals go first to the Nebraska Court of Appeals. The Nebraska Supreme Court may then take the case for final review, and it can also pull certain cases directly. Appellate filings are tracked in SCCALES, the appellate side of the state case system, rather than in the trial-court JUSTICE database.

Federal matters are a separate track and are not Lancaster County District Court records. Federal crimes, civil rights claims, and diversity cases run through the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, with appeals to the Eighth Circuit. Those files are searched in PACER and CM/ECF, not in the state system.

The Eighth Circuit posts a page covering the Nebraska federal courts and how they connect to the appellate level. The Eighth Circuit Nebraska courts page lists the federal district and bankruptcy courts that handle Nebraska federal appeals.

The federal track matters only when a case starts in or moves to the federal courts, so most Lancaster County District Court appeals stay inside the Nebraska state appellate system.

Related Lancaster County Records

For the full case-search walkthrough and the JUSTICE field table, see Lancaster County court records. For hearing schedules, see court dockets. The clerk who keeps District Court files is profiled at Clerk of the District Court. For felony and booking detail, see arrest records. Citation and ticket files sit at traffic court records.