§ 6-1518.Appeals from county court and other tribunals, including those pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act; statement of errors; mandate; bills of exceptions; briefs; oral arguments; summary disposition.

Article 15: Uniform District Court Rules of Practice and Procedure · Last amended December 17, 2025 · Last verified July 22, 2026

In one sentenceThis rule lays out the full procedure for appeals from county court, and from certain administrative agency decisions, to the district court — how the bill of exceptions moves over, how a party must list its claimed errors, how mandates issue, and the deadlines and limits for briefs and oral argument.

Full Text of § 6-1518

Text sizeJump to: (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G)

(A) Bills of exceptions from county court. In appeals from the county court to the district court and where a bill of exceptions is requested to be prepared, the bill of exceptions filed in the county court proceeding shall be transmitted electronically from the county court to the district court and filed in the district court. Upon filing the bill of exceptions, the clerk of the district court shall send notice to the parties using JUSTICE procedures. The bill of exceptions shall be the official record of the proceedings and shall be considered by the district court without being offered and received in evidence.

(B) Statement of errors.

Within 20 days of filing the bill of exceptions in an appeal to the district court, or if no bill of exceptions was requested, within 30 days of the filing of the notice of appeal, Appellant shall file with the district court a statement of errors which shall consist of a separate, concise statement of each error a party contends was made by the trial court. Each assignment of error shall be separately numbered and paragraphed. Consideration of the cause will be limited to errors assigned, provided that the district court may, at its option, notice plain error not assigned. This rule shall not apply to small claims appeals.

(1) Within 2 judicial days after the decision of the district court becomes final, the clerk shall issue a mandate and transmit the same to the clerk of the county court on the form prescribed by the Nebraska Supreme Court together with a copy of the district court’s decision.

(2) The clerk shall notify the clerk of the county court if any matter appealed from the county court is thereafter appealed to the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals. Such notice shall be sent to the county court within 2 days after the date the notice of appeal is filed in the district court.

(3) The clerk shall notify the clerk of the county court of receipt of a mandate from the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals within 2 days after the mandate is received by the district court on cases that originated in the county court.

(D) Bills of Exceptions From Other Tribunals.

(1) Any court reporting personnel approved by the court, board, or tribunal from which the appeal or error proceedings is taken may attend and record the trial or proceedings and prepare a bill of exceptions, certified to be true and complete by such court reporting personnel, and file the same with the chief clerical officer of such court, board, or tribunal who shall certify the bill of exceptions as the official record of the proceedings. Proposed amendments not agreed to shall be heard and determined by such court, board, or tribunal as provided in Neb. Ct. R. App. P. § 2-105(G). The completed bill of exceptions shall be filed electronically in the district court within the time provided by law and, if no time be fixed, before the case is submitted to the reviewing court.

(2) The clerk of the district court shall promptly notify the court reporting personnel serving the district court judge to whom the case is assigned of the filing of the bill of exceptions from the court, board, or tribunal. Said court reporting personnel shall review the bill of exceptions for the purpose of determining whether it has been prepared in compliance with Neb. Ct. R. App. P. §§ 2-105.01 and 2-105.02. If in the opinion of the court reporting personnel the bill of exceptions has not been so prepared, the court reporting personnel shall advise the judge to whom the case is assigned for such action as the judge deems appropriate.

(3) The bill of exceptions from the court, board, or tribunal filed in the district court shall be the official record and shall be considered by the district court without being offered and received in evidence.

(E) The absence of a mandatory document from the transcript must be raised by a party prior to submission of the appeal to the district court.

(F) Briefs and Oral Argument.

(1) Briefs. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the briefs listed below must be filed within the times stated in these rules. Requests for additional time to file briefs shall be supported by a showing of good cause.

(a) Appellant’s or Petitioner’s brief must be served and filed within 30 days after the date the bill of exceptions is due to be filed. If no request for preparation of a bill of exceptions is filed, Appellant’s or Petitioner’s briefs must be served and filed within 30 days after the transcript is filed, unless the court directs otherwise.

(b) Appellee's or Respondent’s brief must be served and filed within 30 days after Appellant or Petitioner has served and filed briefs.

(c) Appellant’s or Petitioner’s reply brief must be served and filed within 10 days after Appellee or Respondent has served and filed briefs.

(2) Oral argument.

(a) A time of hearing shall be secured by contacting the judge’s bailiff. Notice of said hearing shall be filed and served on the opposing counsel or party, if not represented by counsel, on or before the date Appellant’s or Petitioner’s brief is served and filed.

(b) Unless ordered by the court, no oral argument is allowed in any appeal from the county court in any criminal case:

(i) Where the accused entered a plea of guilty or no contest; or

(ii) Where the sole allegation of error is that the sentence imposed was excessive or excessively lenient or the trial court refused to reduce the sentence upon application of the defendant.

(3) Cases to be submitted without argument may be submitted at any time after the time for filing Appellant’s reply brief has expired.

(4) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, oral argument shall not exceed 10 minutes per side in any civil or criminal case. On the court’s own motion or on motion by a party, additional time may be granted by a showing of good cause.

(5) Unless otherwise directed by the court, the parties may elect to waive oral argument and submit a case solely on the briefs. Such notice to waive oral argument shall be filed with the Clerk of the District Court and separately communicated to the judge’s bailiff at least 3 days prior to the date of hearing.

(G) Summary Disposition.

(1) Summary Dismissal. When the district court is hearing an appeal over which it determines it lacks jurisdiction, the appeal will be dismissed in the following manner: “APPEAL DISMISSED.”

(2) Summary Affirmance. When the district court is hearing an appeal over which it determines on its own motion that (1) it is confined to plain error review because of Appellant’s failure to file a required statement of errors, (2) a detailed opinion would have no significant value upon further review, and (3) one of the following conditions is met:

(a) the judgment is based on findings of fact that are not clearly erroneous;

(b) the evidence in support of a jury verdict is not insufficient;

(d) no error of law appears;

the Court may at its discretion decline to hold a hearing on appeal and affirm the judgment in the following manner: “AFFIRMED.”

End

Amendment History

Rule 18 amended November 18, 1998. Renumbered and codified as § 6-1518, effective July 18, 2008; § 6-1518 amended June 9, 2021, effective January 1, 2022; § 6-1518(A) and (B) amended August 23, 2023, effective November 1, 2023; § 6-1518 amended September 11, 2024; § 6-1518(B) amended December 17, 2025.

Plain-English Summary

Section 6-1518 is the roadmap for an appeal that starts in county court and lands in district court, along with appeals from agencies under the Administrative Procedure Act. It moves through the appeal in the order events happen. First, if a party asks for a bill of exceptions — the certified record of what happened at trial — the county court transmits it electronically to the district court, and the district court treats it as the official record without anyone needing to formally offer it into evidence.

Next comes the statement of errors. The appellant has to file a separate, concise list of each error claimed against the trial court, with each one numbered and set out on its own. This step matters more than it might seem: the district court generally limits its review to the errors listed, though it retains discretion to notice plain error even if a party left it off the list. Small claims appeals are exempt from this requirement.

The rule then handles mandates — the clerk’s notifications to the county court once the district court’s decision becomes final, or once a further appeal is taken to the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals — each on a short, fixed timetable measured in days. A separate subsection extends similar bill-of-exceptions procedures to appeals from other tribunals, such as administrative boards, including how amendments to a proposed bill of exceptions get resolved and how court reporting personnel check the record for compliance.

Finally, the rule sets out the mechanics of briefing and argument: filing deadlines for the appellant’s brief, the appellee’s brief, and any reply, tied to when the bill of exceptions or transcript is due rather than to fixed calendar dates; how to schedule oral argument, and when oral argument is unavailable as of right in certain criminal appeals; a default time limit of ten minutes per side unless the court says otherwise; and how parties can waive argument and submit on the briefs alone. It closes with a summary disposition procedure, letting the district court dismiss an appeal it finds it lacks jurisdiction over, or summarily affirm a judgment when the appellant failed to file a statement of errors and the case meets specific narrow conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens to the bill of exceptions when a case is appealed from county court?

It is transmitted electronically from the county court to the district court and becomes the official record of the proceedings, considered by the district court without being separately offered into evidence.

What is a statement of errors, and when is it due?

It is a separate, concise, numbered list of each error the appellant claims the trial court made. It is due within twenty days of filing the bill of exceptions, or within thirty days of the notice of appeal if no bill of exceptions was requested. It does not apply to small claims appeals.

Can the district court consider an error the appellant did not list in the statement of errors?

Generally review is limited to the errors assigned, but the district court may, at its option, notice plain error that was not assigned.

How much time do parties get for briefing on an appeal from county court?

The appellant’s brief is due thirty days after the bill of exceptions is due (or after the transcript is filed, if no bill of exceptions was requested); the appellee’s brief is due thirty days after that; and any reply brief is due ten days after the appellee’s brief.

Is oral argument always available in an appeal from county court?

Not always. Unless the court orders otherwise, no oral argument is allowed in criminal appeals where the accused pleaded guilty or no contest, or where the only claimed error concerns the severity of the sentence.

What is summary disposition under this rule?

It lets the district court dismiss an appeal on its own motion for lack of jurisdiction, or summarily affirm a judgment when the appellant failed to file a required statement of errors, a detailed opinion would add no value, and specific conditions about the record are met.

Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Judicial Branch, adopted by the Supreme Court of Nebraska. Last verified July 22, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: appeal from county court to district courtstatement of errors deadline nebraskabill of exceptions appeal procedurebriefing schedule county court appealsummary affirmance district court appeal