Reading A Search Warrant
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-815 and Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-411 — ten days to execute it, a copy and a receipt, and notice before forcing a door
A search warrant may be issued by a judge, or a clerk magistrate in the county where the property is, to search for and seize stolen property, things used to commit a crime or possessed unlawfully, and evidence of a crime.
Ten days. The warrant must be executed and returned within ten days after its date.
A copy and a receipt. The officer taking property gives the person, or leaves at the place, a copy of the warrant and a receipt. A written inventory is made in that person's presence if they are there, or before a credible witness, and the judge gives a copy on request.
After giving notice of office and purpose and being refused admittance, an officer may break open a door or window. Entry without notice is allowed only where the judge directed it on sworn proof that evidence would be destroyed or life endangered, and the officer's employer pays for the damage.
How a warrant is served is also measured by the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court of the United States has held that whether officers knocked and announced their presence before entering is part of whether the entry was reasonable, and that the knock and announce principle forms part of that analysis rather than being a rigid rule without exceptions. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
Whether a particular warrant was valid is a question for a court and a licensed Nebraska attorney.
Sources for this section (5)
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-812 — Search warrant; issuance
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-813 — Search warrant; issuance; limitation; terms, defined
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-815 — Search warrant; executed and returned; inventory required
- Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-411 — Warrants and arrests; powers of officer; direction for executing search warrant; damages
- Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927 (1995) — Knocking and announcing is part of whether an entry is reasonable
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Nebraska attorney.