§ 25-1808.Actions between state agencies, boards, commissions, constitutional officers, and members of the Legislature; costs awarded; when.

Section 25-1808 addresses a narrower situation than the sections before it: litigation between arms of Nebraska’s own government, rather than a private party against the state. When a state agency, board, commission, or constitutional officer — or someone acting on its behalf, or the Legislature — brings a legal action or proceeding against another agency, board, commission, constitutional officer, or the Legislature, and the court determines that the party who sued failed to substantially prevail, the court awards fees and other expenses to the party sued. That award includes reasonable attorney’s fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and court costs, and it applies notwithstanding several other cost-and-fee statutes listed in the section.

If the Attorney General represented the agency, board, commission, constitutional officer, or Legislature that brought the losing action, that office prepares a billing for the services it provided, and whatever amount the court does not reduce gets paid into the Legal Services Fund described in section 25-1809. The entity responsible for paying the fees and expenses covers that cost from its own appropriated funds, unless the Legislature has set up a special fund or appropriation for that purpose.