If the giving or refusal be excepted to, the same may be without any stated reason therefor, and all instructions demanded, as well as all instructions given to the jury by the court on its own motion, must be plainly and legibly written in consecutively numbered paragraphs, and filed by the clerk before being read to the jury by the court; and such instructions shall be preserved as part of the record of the cause in which they were given.
§ 25-1114.Instructions; paragraphing; numbering; filing; record.
Article 11: Trial · Last amended 1875 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis section requires every jury instruction — whether requested by a party or written by the court on its own — to be legibly written in consecutively numbered paragraphs and filed with the clerk before it is read to the jury, then preserved afterward as part of the case record.
Full Text of § 25-1114
Source
Laws 1875, § 4, p. 77; R.S.1913, § 7853; C.S.1922, § 8797; C.S.1929, § 20-1114; R.S.1943, § 25-1114.
Plain-English Summary
Section 25-1114 sets the formatting and filing rules that finish off the instruction process begun in § 25-1111. Every instruction demanded by a party, as well as every instruction the court gives on its own motion, must be plainly and legibly written in consecutively numbered paragraphs. That structure makes it possible to refer to a specific instruction by number, both at trial and on any later appeal.
Filing has to happen in a particular order: the instructions must be filed by the clerk before they are read to the jury, not afterward. That sequencing locks in a fixed, dated record of the instructions as they existed at the moment the jury heard them, before deliberation and verdict.
The section also relieves a party of one burden: if the giving or refusal of an instruction is excepted to, that exception may be made without stating a reason. Finally, once instructions are filed, they do not disappear from the file — they are preserved as part of the record of the case in which they were given, available for review long after the trial itself has ended.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do jury instructions have to be numbered?
Yes. Section 25-1114 requires them to be plainly and legibly written in consecutively numbered paragraphs.
When must instructions be filed with the clerk?
Before they are read to the jury by the court, not afterward.
Do I have to state a reason when objecting to a jury instruction?
No. The section allows an exception to the giving or refusal of an instruction to be made without any stated reason.
Does this numbering and filing requirement cover instructions the court writes on its own?
Yes. It covers instructions demanded by a party as well as instructions given to the jury by the court on its own motion.
What happens to jury instructions after the trial is over?
They are preserved as part of the record of the case in which they were given, rather than being discarded once the verdict comes in.
Source & verification. Section text and the amendment-history citation are
reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Legislature, Revisor of Statutes, enacted by the
Nebraska Legislature. Last verified July 22, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: numbering jury instructions nebraskafiling instructions with the clerk before trialobjecting to a jury instruction without stating a reason25-1114 nebraska statutepreserving jury instructions in the trial record