Scotts Bluff County Arrest Records

People who break a Scotts Bluff ordinance or Nebraska State penal statute are exposed to a potential arrest by law enforcement agents. In Scotts Bluff County, this arrest can occur without a warrant or after the police receive a warrant from the court. Unless the police cite the arrestee, the individual will be processed at the station and detained in an adult detention or juvenile placement facility until they are released on bond (if eligible for pre-arraignment release), attend their court hearing, or have the charges dropped by the prosecutor. Some detainees may also remain in custody until their criminal case is concluded.

For every arrest made in Scotts Bluff, the arresting department creates a record of the incident, sometimes referred to as the arrest report. This record indicates who was arrested, the crime for which they were arrested, and other circumstances or facts of the incident.

A Scotts Bluff arrest record is required for diverse legal processes, including charging suspects and conducting background checks. However, the record is not a complete account of the criminal proceedings after an arrest. Individuals may review the Scotts Bluff County court records to determine if someone was later found guilty or acquitted of a charge.

Are Arrest Records Public in Scotts Bluff County?

Yes, arrest records are open to the public in Scotts Bluff County. Per the Nebraska Public Records Statutes (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 84-712 through 84-712.09) and Criminal History Information Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-350, et seq.), members of society can obtain records of arrests from state and criminal justice agencies, including law enforcement departments in Scotts Bluff.

Nonetheless, certain information is not considered part of the public record and can only be accessed in the following manner:

• After the redaction of the confidential parts or sections
• Only to parties with a judicial order permitting access, or
• Only to parties explicitly authorized by statute

These classified records include medical information, law enforcement records connected with active investigations, and arrest records where no charges were filed by the prosecuting attorney (after a year from the incident date). Other public record exemptions can be reviewed in Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-3523 and 84-712.05.

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

A public arrest record in Scotts Bluff County may contain these details:

• The complete name (first, middle, last) of the subject of the arrest
• The subject's race, sex, age, address, and physical description
• The charges
• The arrest time and date
• The booking date, number, and facility
• The arresting agency
• The court case (docket) number and jurisdiction (district or county)
• Any applicable bond information

Scotts Bluff County Arrest Statistics

Countywide arrest statistics for U.S. jurisdictions are available through the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Crime Data Explorer. This database can be accessed for Scotts Bluff County arrest statistics by selecting the U.S. state to search (i.e., Nebraska) and the specific police department in Scotts Bluff County to analyze, which may be the Lyman PD, Gering PD, Scotts Bluff County Sheriff's Office, Scottsbluff PD, etc.

For example, the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff's Office reported 56 arrests in 2023, with Drug/Narcotic Offenses (25) and Simple Assault (11) being the most prevalent. On the other hand, the Scottsbluff PD, which oversees the county's most populated city, recorded 468 arrests in the same year. Drug/Narcotic Offenses, Simple Assault, and Larceny ranked as the city's top arrests, resulting in 116, 67, and 57 incidents, respectively.

Find Scotts Bluff County Arrest Records

One of the more practical ways to find an arrest record in Scotts Bluff is to head for the police department that made the arrest. Although remote access may be available to the public, it may be more advantageous to visit the police station during normal business hours, as the records unit staff can offer direct assistance. Furthermore, an in-person query allows the requester to obtain copies of public records that are not available digitally.

With such public record requests, providing at least the name and birthdate of the person arrested will be necessary. The inquirer can also share the arrest date or location with the records staff if known. However, it is important to note that an agency will only maintain a list of arrests conducted by its officers; all other arrest records requests should go to the relevant arresting division.

Individuals looking for someone confined in the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center (SBCDC) after an arrest by a state or local agency can contact the Office of the Sheriff at (308) 436-7300 Still, federal arrests can occur in Scotts Bluff County. If searching for a person in federal custody, one may contact the applicable arresting agency or search the Federal Inmate Locator.

It is worth keeping in mind that other criminal justice agencies may keep records of Scotts Bluff County arrests. If the offender participated in criminal justice proceedings, one may obtain case records from the applicable court (the Scotts Bluff County District or County court). Individuals can also request records from the Nebraska State Patrol, which maintains one of Nebraska's more comprehensive criminal history databases. Records from the State Patrol contain any Scotts Bluff County arrest reported to the state.

Free Arrest Record Search in Scotts Bluff County

Individuals who request a public Scotts Bluff County arrest record from a local law enforcement agency may be able to examine the record at no cost. However, any request that necessitates a record's reproduction (copying) often has nominal charges per page/document that the requester must bear. These costs vary by agency.

Alternatively, members of the public can access third-party aggregator databases to conduct a free Scotts Bluff County arrest record search. Such databases can search other Nebraska and U.S. regions for records of a person's arrest, depending on the user's interest. However, these expansive search capabilities often come with fee requirements.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

Arrests executed in Scotts Bluff County typically remain on file indefinitely. However, a record's availability to the general public may be subject to statutory or judicial restrictions.

Case in point: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-3523 removes arrests for which no charges were filed due to completed diversion from the public record two years from the arrest date. Additionally, any defendant who receives a sealing order from the court will have their affected criminal record history information removed from public access.

However, withdrawing an arrest record from public examination does not imply its destruction or removal from privately maintained databases. For that reason, these records tend to persist throughout an individual's lifetime.

Expunge Scotts Bluff County Arrest Records

Nebraska approves a "Sealing" process as a form of relief from an arrest or criminal record. Both adults and juveniles can undertake this procedure, provided they are legally eligible. Admittedly, many juvenile records (where the record holder was under 18 at the time of the incident) are automatically sealed from public view. However, juvenile records that were not sealed automatically may be sealed by request. The Nebraska Judiciary's Juvenile Record Sealing page has more information about the process. Individuals can also review Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-2,108.01 through 43-2,108.05.

On the other hand, adult defendants can seal their arrest, charge, and conviction records if they:

• Obtained a pardon.
• Are survivors of sex trafficking, and the conviction is directly related. However, the conviction must be set aside before the record can be sealed.
• Were acquitted or found not guilty of their charges or had their charges or case dismissed. Notably, acquittals and dismissals are automatically sealed after December 31, 2016.

Motions to seal an adult criminal record, including arrests related to the matter, are filed in the court where a case was heard. The Nebraska Judiciary's Adult Record Sealing page provides detailed instructions for filing these petitions.

Scotts Bluff County Arrest Warrants

District and county court judges (or clerk magistrates when no county or district judge is available) have the power to issue arrest warrants in Scotts Bluff County. These warrants are issued upon receiving a complaint and affidavit sworn by a law enforcement officer setting forth probable cause ("reasonable grounds") for an individual's arrest. Such writs direct the police to apprehend their subjects wherever they may be found and deliver them to the court to answer the accusations. An arrest warrant can also be released because of a pending legal matter, such as a failure to pay child support or to appear for a hearing when mandated.

Arrest warrants in Scotts Bluff carry the accused's full name (or any description sufficient for their detection), the charges for which they stand culpable, the jurisdiction that issued the warrant, and the date of issuance.

Do Scotts Bluff County Arrest Warrants Expire?

No. Nebraska's legislature imposes no deadline on the validity of an arrest warrant, regardless of which county issues the warrant. For this reason, all arrest warrants issued in Scotts Bluff remain in full force and effect until they are executed (the subject of the warrant is arrested) or recalled by the court. However, a court will only recall (or quash) a warrant under limited circumstances, such as when it finds new evidence that exonerates the suspect.