Nebraska is a combination state. With the exception of secure detention, the state operates most delinquency services in Nebraska. However, responsibility is divided between the judicial and executive branches.

How is detention organized? 

County commissions or boards operate Nebraska's four detention centers and some of Nebraska's eight staff-secure facilities. Private nonprofit organizations operate the remaining facilities.

County attorneys determine a juvenile’s eligibility for diversion. Although guidelines recommend that only nonviolent misdemeanors be diverted, decisions are made on a case by case basis.

 Nebraska does not have a statute extending rights to victims of juvenile crime. However, the goals of pretrial diversion include promoting restitution to the victim.  The Nebraska Crime Commission administers the state crime victim compensation program. 

The Office of Probation Administration, within the State Court Administrator's Office, administers probation services through 15 probation districts. The state is divided into six regions that provide intensive supervision probation (ISP), and these officers serve both juveniles and adults. The court sets the terms of probation supervision.

Probation officers must have college degrees. The Office of Probation Administration, within the State Court Administrator's Office, sets the minimum performance and qualification standards for probation officers.

Juveniles are committed to the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Juvenile Services (OJS). Upon commitment to the juvenile institution, OJS obtains custody of the adjudicated delinquent and makes placement decisions.

Juveniles are released from juvenile institutions upon successful completion of their individual programs or at a time when the Facility Administrator and the youth’s Juvenile Service Officer determine placement, supervision, and treatment in the community is available and will meet the juvenile’s needs. A Treatment Team submits a release recommendation to the Facility Administrator, who has final release authority.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides a case management system to all juveniles committed to HHS-Office of Juvenile Services. In consultation with the juvenile institutions, the HHS Juvenile Service Officer develops a case plan identifying aftercare services that will be provided to the juvenile upon release from the institution. Juvenile Service Officers are located in five service areas across the state.

Nebraska’s purpose clause is rooted in Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) philosophies.  The BARJ movement advocates that juvenile courts give balanced attention to three primary interests: public safety, individual accountability to the victims and community, and the development in offenders of those skills necessary to live law-abiding and productive lives.

Lower Age: None specified

Upper Age: 17

Extended Age of Delinquency Jurisdiction: 18

Probation Intake Officers assess the juvenile using a standardized juvenile detention screening instrument to determine if detention is necessary.  To determine probation services, the Youth Level of Service Inventory (YLSI) is used.