The maintenance of arrest records for Nebraska is handled by the Criminal Identification Division (CID) of the Nebraska State Police (NSP). The agency works out of the Nebraska State Patrol Investigative Services Center which is located in Lincoln. The CID is a support division that works within the Investigative Services and maintains the central repository of criminal history records for the state of Nebraska.
The agency has the responsibility of keeping accurate and complete arrest records for every person who has been detained in police custody and fingerprinted for commissioning any criminal act, whether a felony or misdemeanor, in the state of Nebraska. The Division has also been put in charge of disclosing this data to applicants who are authorized to receive it. These tasks are carried out under sections 29-209 and 210; 23-3501 and 3528 and 81-1423 of the NRS. These acts provide rules and guidelines for:
- The control and coordination of arrest records
- For the establishment of a uniform and efficient system for handling criminal record keeping
- Periodic auditing of the data
- The preservation of public rights as well as individual privacy when collecting and disseminating arrest records
What information is included in NE arrest records?
A crime history report will contain details on all arrests, case dispositions, charges and pretrial formalities such as the issue of active warrants from NE. This information is available for all criminal occurrences that the subject was involved in which transpired within Nebraska.
In other words, you will not find nationwide or federal crime records from the CCH. The crime history details included in the central repository are simply an accumulation of what could be found in the databases maintained by the various criminal justice and law enforcement agencies across the state.
Given the fact that this information is collected from all the police departments, courts, county clerks’ offices and prosecution, it is understandable why the Nebraska State Patrol has the most comprehensive repository of crime history information in the state. However, it should be understood that listings are only included in the database when the crime file is supported by the fingerprints of the arrestee.
Why is it that you cannot find some information in the CCH database although a crime has occurred?
The CCH includes information on all felonies that have transpired in the state along with more serious misdemeanors. However, it should be understood that many infractions that are deemed trivial are often dealt with arrests and the eventual issue of citations. So, fingerprints are not taken in such cases; this means the CCH will not include details on such matters.
Also, there will be no mention of cases where charges were filed against an alleged offender by the prosecution but instead of the issue of an arrest warrant, a summons was released or the suspect made a voluntary appearance in court. Once again, in such a scenario, the accused will not be taken into custody hence his fingerprints will not be captured. Also, the database does not include details on criminal matters that have occurred outside the geographical boundaries of Nebraska.
What are the restrictions imposed on responses to NE warrant searches?
Typically, when you launch an inquiry into the issue of an active warrant in the name of a subject, you are likely to be told about the following:
- Arrest records for the most recent two years for cases where no charges were filed
- Information on all cases that ended in a conviction regardless of how old these are
- Details on charges that were sent to diversion are also included only for the last 2 years
- Information on charges that were dismissed is available for the most recent 3 years
- Juvenile arrests will not be reported in the crime history check
- Minor traffic violations or other offenses in which only a citation was issued will also not be included in the arrest records