Lancaster County Court will be holding after hours “Night Court” sessions on the evenings of May 30, 2019, and June 27, 2019.  These sessions will be held on the second floor of the Lancaster County Courthouse in Lancaster County Courtroom No. 24 and will run from 4:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. on those two days.

The purpose of these additional court sessions is to provide greater access to the justice system to those individuals that cannot miss work to attend regular court sessions without risking termination of their employment.  It will also allow individuals that watch children during regular business hours to arrange for a family member who is off work to watch their children while they attend Court.  This pilot project is conducted in conjunction with the Lancaster County Court, the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office, the Lincoln City Attorney’s Office, and the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.

Only non-custody matters will be dealt with and heard during these special court sessions.  Matters that can be addressed during these sessions will include the following:

1. Misdemeanor non-custody cases
2. Misdemeanor warrants and pleas
3. Felony non-custody docket calls or preliminary hearing waivers in felony cases not yet bound over to the District Court.
4. Felony non-custody matters where the defendants will be pleading to charges that are being reduced to misdemeanor offenses.

There will be no evidentiary hearing, no trials, no preliminary hearings, no bond reviews of individuals in custody, and no individuals in custody will be transported for hearings.  Attorneys are encouraged to file motions ahead of these dates requesting hearings at these special sessions.  Doing this ahead of time will assist the Court with scheduling and staffing.  Individuals that are not represented by an attorney may call the Criminal/Traffic desk of the Court Clerk’s office at (402) 441-8959 for instructions on what they need to do to set their case for one of these special sessions.

Outstanding warrants on Class I misdemeanor charges, where sentencings have been missed by the defendants and the Court has placed a “Hold For Court” order on the individual, will not be recalled.  Those individuals would be lodged at the Lancaster County Jail and dealt with the following day.  Individuals with felony warrants will also be taken into custody and dealt with the following day.