Clerk of District Court

The office of Clerk of the District Court is an elected position. Duties include filing of new cases and receiving, filing and maintaining all subsequent pleadings in District Court matters. Filing includes scanning, microfilming, indexing and placing paper documents in the court files. All pleadings are entered electronically into the State Court Administrators statewide computer system known as JUSTICE. Many of the pleadings demand action by the Clerk. Actions may include issuing a summons or subpoena, preparing warrants for the judge’s signature, entering information for money judgments into JUSTICE, receipting and disbursing funds for fees and collections on judgments, investing funds when so directed by the court. Currently there are about 65,000 court files housed in the office and storage areas. Cases filed fall into two categories, civil and criminal. Civil matters include domestic issues such as dissolutions, child support, paternity, custody; protection orders, both harassment and domestic; litigation for negligence, property disputes, contract disputes, F.E.L.A. cases (i.e. railroad cases), name change, foreclosures; appeals from County Court and Small Claims Court; transcribed judgments from other courts. Criminal matters include felony cases, misdemeanors reduced from felonies; appeals from County Court; search warrants.

District Court is also responsible for pleadings in cases filed to go before the Mental Health Board.

The Clerk of the District Court also serves as Jury Commissioner in Scotts Bluff County. A list of eligible citizens is obtained from drivers’ license and voter registration records. From that list panels of potential jurors are summoned for each of the four court terms held each year. Separate groups are summoned for District Court and for County Court. It is the Jury Commissioner’s responsibility to see that the potential jurors are present for court dates as scheduled by the judges and to do the actual drawing of names in the courtroom before each trial. Once the jurors are selected and sworn in, the Bailiff is responsible for their welfare and adherence to rules during the trial.

The Clerk of the District Court is a passport application agent for the U. S. Department of State. The agent executes the paperwork and must be personally assured that the citizenship and identity of the applicant are valid.

On April 13, 2022, the Nebraska Supreme Court adopted rule amendments to Neb. Ct. R. § 6-601 et seq. and Appendix 1 which allow self represented
litigants to fax filings.
The fax cover sheet is available on the master forms list:

Fax Filling For Self-Represented Litigants

Please note, the 12th Judicial District consists of the following counties: Banner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel, Garden, Grant, Kimball, Morrill, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan & Sioux counties