§ 6-1511.Courtroom decorum.

Courtroom decorum in Nebraska district court runs on detail. Parties and attorneys have to be present and ready to proceed at the hearing time the court sets, with unjustified no-shows risking dismissal or discipline. Attorneys dress in ordinary business wear. When the judge enters, everyone rises and stays standing until the judge is seated; when a session recesses or ends, everyone stays seated until the judge or jury has left.

Examination of witnesses happens from the counsel table or, where available, an attorney’s lectern — not by wandering the courtroom. Counsel can’t approach opposing counsel, the bench, a witness, the court reporter’s desk, or the clerk’s desk without the court’s permission, except for specific purposes like voir dire, an opening statement, a closing argument, or presenting an exhibit for identification. Communications to the court itself go through the counsel table or lectern absent express permission otherwise, and counsel can’t engage in audible or inaudible colloquy with opposing counsel without the court’s permission. Leaving the courtroom, even briefly, requires the court’s permission, and no attorney may leave during the testimony of a witness they’re examining or have examined without that permission.

The section also covers respect and safety. Witnesses and parties get addressed by surname, and only one attorney per party may examine a witness or object during that testimony. Anyone entering while court is in session sits down immediately and behaves quietly — no smoking, eating, drinking, or other distracting conduct. Firearms and other dangerous weapons are barred from the courtroom and adjacent public areas without the court’s permission, and the court can order a search of any person and their belongings for weapons or destructive devices. Jurors, whether prospective or seated, can’t mingle or converse with counsel, litigants, witnesses, or spectators during trial.