(1) Unless other disposition is specifically
provided by law, when property seized or held is no longer required as evidence,
it shall be disposed of by the law enforcement agency on such showing as the
law enforcement agency may deem adequate, as follows:
(a) Property stolen, embezzled, obtained by false pretenses,
or otherwise obtained unlawfully from the rightful owner thereof shall be
restored to the owner;
(b) Money shall be restored to the owner unless it was used
in unlawful gambling or lotteries or it was used or intended to be used to
facilitate a violation of Chapter 28, article 4, in which case the money shall
be forfeited and disposed of as required by Article VII, section 7, of the
Constitution of Nebraska;
(c) Property which is unclaimed or the ownership of which
is unknown shall be sold at a public auction held by the officer having custody
thereof and the net proceeds disposed of as provided in subdivision (b) of
this subsection, as shall any money which is unclaimed or the ownership of
which is unknown;
(d) Except as provided in subsection
(2) of this section, articles of contraband shall be destroyed;
(e) Firearms, ammunition, explosives,
bombs, and like devices which have been used in the commission of crime shall
be destroyed; and
(f) Firearms
which have come into the law enforcement agency's possession through a seizure
or otherwise and (i) have not been used in the commission of crime, (ii) have
not been defaced or altered in any manner that violates any state or federal
law, (iii) may have a lawful use and be lawfully possessed, and (iv) are not
subject to section 29-440 shall be restored to the owner.
(2) When the following property is seized or held and is no
longer required as evidence, such property shall be disposed of on order of
the court as the court may deem adequate:
Goods which are declared
to be contraband but may reasonably be returned to a condition or state in
which such goods may be lawfully used, possessed, or distributed by the public.
(3) When any animal as defined by section 28-1008 is seized
or held and is no longer required as evidence, such animal may be disposed
of in such manner as the court may direct. The court may consider adoption
alternatives through humane societies or comparable institutions and the protection
of such animal's welfare. For a humane society or comparable institution to
be considered as an adoption alternative under this subsection, it must first
be licensed by the Department of Agriculture as having passed the inspection
requirements in the Commercial Dog and Cat Operator Inspection Act and paid
the fee for inspection under the act. The court may prohibit an adopting or
purchasing party from selling such animal for a period not to exceed one year.
(4) Unless otherwise provided by law, all other property shall
be disposed of in such manner as the court in its sound discretion shall direct.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
19
cases (
6 in the last 5 years), 1986–2026 · leading case:
State v. McGuire, 301 Neb. 895 (Neb. 2018).
State v. McGuire, 301 Neb. 895 (Neb. 2018).
· cites it 19× “Claiming that Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016) divested the district court of jurisdiction over disposition of the disputed items, the State moved to dismiss the motion.”
State v. Ebert, 303 Neb. 394 (Neb. 2019).
· cites it 3× “For the sake of completeness, we note that another statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016), also relates to the disposition of seized property.”
State v. Zimmer, 311 Neb. 294 (Neb. 2022).
· cites it 8× “Zimmer fur- ther appeals and asserts that under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016), the trial court was required to return the seized firearm, because the firearm was not used in the commission of a crime.”
State v. Holmes, 379 N.W.2d 765 (Neb. 1986).
· cites it 4× “Section 29-820 provides in part: Unless other disposition is specifically provided by law, when property seized or held is no longer required as evidence, it shall be disposed of on order of the court on such showing as the court may deem adequate, as follows: .”
State v. Agee, 741 N.W.2d 161 (Neb. 2007).
“25 See § 29-820(l)(a). 26 See Dean, supra note 20 .”
State v. Riley, 979 N.W.2d 538 (Neb. Ct. App. 2022).
· cites it 13× “Riley filed a motion for return of personal property, pursu- ant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016), requesting the return of her personal property seized at the time of her arrest.”
Newman v. Stuart, 597 So. 2d 609 (Miss. 1992).
“301 (1987); Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (1989); Nev.Rev.”
State v. Cox, 523 N.W.2d 52 (Neb. Ct. App. 1994).
“§ 29-820. We believe that the obvious purpose of those provisions in the foregoing statutes which define which court has “jurisdiction” over the seized property is to assure safekeeping and custody of the property, as well as identifying which court has the authority, should the…”
Huff v. Otto, 28 Neb. Ct. App. 646 (Neb. Ct. App. 2020).
· cites it 2× “We note that jurisdiction is not explicitly mentioned in § 29-820, which relates to the manner of disposition of different kinds of property.”
State v. Allen, 318 Neb. 627 (Neb. 2025).
· cites it 8× “The court next looked to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016) to determine how to dispose of the various items listed in Allen’s motion.”
State v. Dodge City, 470 N.W.2d 795 (Neb. 1991).
· cites it 2× “” In addition, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (1)(d) (Reissue 1989) requires that seized contraband, such as these illegal gambling devices, shall be destroyed.”
State v. McGuire, 301 Neb. 895 (Neb. 2018).
· cites it 19× “Claiming that Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016) divested the district court of jurisdiction over disposition of the disputed items, the State moved to dismiss the motion.”
— Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820(1) — 2 cases
State v. McGuire, 301 Neb. 895 (Neb. 2018).
“Claiming that Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016) divested the district court of jurisdiction over disposition of the disputed items, the State moved to dismiss the motion.”
State v. McGuire, 301 Neb. 895 (Neb. 2018).
“Claiming that Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016) divested the district court of jurisdiction over disposition of the disputed items, the State moved to dismiss the motion.”
— Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820(1)(b) — 1 case
— Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820(1)(e) — 6 cases
State v. McGuire, 301 Neb. 895 (Neb. 2018).
“Claiming that Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016) divested the district court of jurisdiction over disposition of the disputed items, the State moved to dismiss the motion.”
State v. Zimmer, 311 Neb. 294 (Neb. 2022).
“Zimmer fur- ther appeals and asserts that under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016), the trial court was required to return the seized firearm, because the firearm was not used in the commission of a crime.”
State v. Riley, 979 N.W.2d 538 (Neb. Ct. App. 2022).
“Riley filed a motion for return of personal property, pursu- ant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016), requesting the return of her personal property seized at the time of her arrest.”
State v. McGuire, 301 Neb. 895 (Neb. 2018).
“Claiming that Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016) divested the district court of jurisdiction over disposition of the disputed items, the State moved to dismiss the motion.”
— Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820(1)(f) — 6 cases
State v. McGuire, 301 Neb. 895 (Neb. 2018).
“Claiming that Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016) divested the district court of jurisdiction over disposition of the disputed items, the State moved to dismiss the motion.”
State v. Zimmer, 311 Neb. 294 (Neb. 2022).
“Zimmer fur- ther appeals and asserts that under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016), the trial court was required to return the seized firearm, because the firearm was not used in the commission of a crime.”
State v. Riley, 979 N.W.2d 538 (Neb. Ct. App. 2022).
“Riley filed a motion for return of personal property, pursu- ant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016), requesting the return of her personal property seized at the time of her arrest.”
State v. McGuire, 301 Neb. 895 (Neb. 2018).
“Claiming that Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820 (Reissue 2016) divested the district court of jurisdiction over disposition of the disputed items, the State moved to dismiss the motion.”
— Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-820(l)(a) — 1 case
State v. Agee, 741 N.W.2d 161 (Neb. 2007).
“25 See § 29-820(l)(a). 26 See Dean, supra note 20 .”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.