§ 25-1121.Special verdicts; when allowed; procedure; filing; record.

Section 25-1121 gives juries and courts a choice between two ways of deciding a case: a general verdict, which only names a winner, and a special verdict, which lays out the facts the jury found. In an action for the recovery of money only, or for specific real property, the jury itself decides, in its discretion, whether to return a general or a special verdict.

In every other type of case, the choice shifts to the court. A judge may direct the jury to find a special verdict in writing on all or any of the issues. Even where the jury returns an ordinary general verdict, the court may also instruct it to answer particular written questions of fact, and may direct that those answers be put in writing. This lets a court get a clear record of what the jury decided on a specific factual point, without giving up the general verdict altogether.

Whatever special verdict or finding the jury produces, the statute requires it to be filed with the clerk and entered upon the record. That step preserves the jury’s factual findings as part of the official case file, which matters if those findings later come into conflict with a general verdict under section 25-1121’s companion, section 25-1120.