Each applicant shall execute under oath a thorough application and sign an authorization and release form that extends to the Commission and to any persons or institutions supplying information thereto. The director shall reject any incomplete application or any application filed after the deadlines provided in § 3-114(B). Such rejection shall not constitute an adverse decision as defined in § 3-101(B). The applicant will be informed of the consequences of failing to produce information requested by the Commission and of making material omissions or misrepresentations. (Appendix A).

   (A) Form and content of application. All applications must be made through the Court's online application system and in the manner prescribed by the Commission as outlined in the application. The Commission may modify or amend the forms as deemed necessary. 

   (B) Time for filing application. All dates and times referred to herein are based on central time. The deadline for submission of any examination application is 11:59 p.m. on the dates listed below. Deadlines are strictly enforced. No extensions are permitted.

   (1) First-time examination applications. Applicants that were not seated for the immediate prior examination, may submit a completed application no earlier than September 1 and no later than October 15 preceding the February examination and no earlier than January 2 and no later than March 1 preceding the July examination.

   (2) Second or subsequent exam applications. Applicants who did not obtain a passing score on the immediate prior examination may submit an application for the next examination no later than May 15 for the next July examination and no later than October 15 for the next February examination.

   (C) Fees. No application shall be accepted by the director of admissions unless such application is accompanied by the full amount of examination, investigation, and administrative fees required by these Rules. (Appendix E).

   The application fee shall be paid electronically through the Admissions application website at the time the application is submitted. A laptop fee for the MEE and MPT portion of the examination must be paid directly to the examination software vendor selected by the Commission.

   (D) Refund policy. Refunds are allowed upon written or electronic mail request to the director, subject to the following:

   (1) If the request is made between October 15 and December 1 for the February examination, and between March 1 and May 1 for the July examination, the examination fee, minus the cost of the fingerprint application, will be refunded.

  (2) If the request is made between December 2 and February 1 before the February examination, or between May 2 and July 1 before the July examination, one-half the examination fee will be refunded, minus the cost of the fingerprint application. 

  (3) Emergency requests for refunds after the dates listed in (2) are at the discretion of the Director. If such refunds are granted, only the portion of the fee charged for the UBE test documents will be refunded.

   (E) Failure to appear for examination. If the applicant has registered for the bar examination and fails to appear for the examination, no refund or deferment of fees is permitted.

   (F) Deferment. Registration fees which have been paid for a bar examination may be held over and applied toward the next available bar examination provided the request for deferment is made on or before February 1 for the February exam and on or before July 1 for the July exam. Emergency requests for deferment after the dates listed in this section are at the discretion of the director. Only one deferment is permitted per applicant. Additional deferments are not permitted.

   (G) Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) scores. MPRE scores must be on file by the application deadline of October 15 for the following February examination and March 1 for the following July examination. Scores submitted after these dates are subject to the MPRE late submission fee. The scaled score of 85 is required for a passing grade. An applicant who has passed the bar examination in Nebraska but who has not submitted a passing MPRE score within 1 year after passing the bar examination shall not be admitted in Nebraska. The Commission will not accept an MPRE score that is more than 5 years old.

   (H) Fingerprints. Applicants must submit two complete sets of fingerprints with the applicant's bar application on a form designated by the Commission as provided under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 7-102(2), or have their fingerprints scanned by an authorized agency. Scanned fingerprints will be processed electronically. Fingerprints obtained by the inking and rolling method must be contained on a Federal Form FD-258 (REV. 5-11-99), which is also known as the "APPLICANT" fingerprinting card. The applicant must have his or her fingerprints rolled or scanned at an authorized agency (police or sheriff's department or highway patrol office), and applicants must complete all applicable identifying information on two fingerprinting cards. The applicant must sign the cards and have the authorized official rolling the applicant's fingerprints also sign and date the cards, with that official printing his or her ON number on the back of the card. Failure to complete all the personal information requested on the top portion of the fingerprint card will cause an application to be delayed and/or rejected. The Commission will forward the fingerprints of all such applicants to the Nebraska State Patrol for a national criminal history record information check by the Identification Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Supreme Court may, at any time, order the Commission to discontinue requesting, or to thereafter resume requesting, fingerprint record checks on all applicants that are fingerprinted pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 7-102(2).

   (I) Limitation on repeated attempts. In no event shall an applicant apply to sit for the Nebraska State Bar Examination after having failed to pass a bar examination on four previous attempts total in any jurisdiction, or a combination of jurisdictions.

§ 3-114 amended July 25, 2013, effective August 1, 2013; § 3-114(I) deleted January 14, 2015; § 3-114(A)-(C) and (F) amended March 11, 2015; § 3-114(B) and (H) amended June 22, 2016; § 3-114(G) amended November 30, 2016; § 3-114 amended February 12, 2020; § 3-114 amended March 12, 2025, effective April 1, 2025.