What Are My Rights As A Victim?

Nebraska has a statutory Bill of Rights for Victims in section 81-1848 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes. Please see the chart below.

VICTIMS BILL OF RIGHTS
Victims and witnesses of crimes have the following rights:

  1. To be informed by local law enforcement agencies and the county attorney of the final disposition of the case. If the crime charged is a felony, the victim shall be notified whenever the defendant or perpetrator is released from custody;

  2. To be notified that a court proceeding to which they have been subpoenaed will not go on as scheduled, in order to save the person an unnecessary trip to court;

  3. To receive protection from harm and threats of harm arising out of their cooperation with law enforcement and prosecution efforts, and to be provided with information as to the level of protection available;

  4. To be informed of financial assistance and other social services available as a result of being a witness or a victim of a crime, including information on how to apply for the assistance and services;

  5. To be informed of the procedure to be followed in order to apply for and receive any witness fee to which they are entitled;

  6. To be provided, whenever possible, a secure waiting area during court proceedings that does not require them to be in close proximity to defendants and families of defendants;

  7. To have any stolen or other personal property expeditiously returned by law enforcement agencies when no longer needed as evidence. If feasible, all such property, except weapons, currency, contraband, property subject to evidentiary analysis, and property the ownership of which is disputed, shall be returned to the person within ten days of being taken;

  8. To be provided with appropriate employer intercession services to insure that employers of victims and witnesses will cooperate with the criminal justice process in order to minimize an employee´s loss of pay and other benefits resulting from court appearances;

  9. To be entitled to a speedy disposition of the case in which they are involved as a victim or witness in order to minimize the length of time they must endure the stress of their responsibilities in connection with the matter; and

  10. To have the family members of all homicide victims afforded all of the above rights.

Excerpt from Nebraska Revised Statutes §81-1848