Article 19: Appeals and Proceedings in Error · Last amended 1991 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis section directs the appellate court, on reversing a judgment in whole or part, to render the judgment the district court should have entered or remand for that judgment, and to enforce its decision through a special mandate to the court below rather than issuing execution itself.
Full Text of § 25-1926
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When a judgment or final order is reversed either in whole or in part in the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court, the appellate court shall proceed to render such judgment as the court below should have rendered or remand the cause to the court below for such judgment. The appellate court shall not issue execution in causes that are removed to it on error on which it pronounced judgment but shall send a special mandate to the court below, as the case may require, to award execution thereupon. The court to which such special mandate is sent shall proceed in such case in the same manner as if such judgment or final order had been rendered therein, and on motion and good cause shown, it may suspend any execution made returnable before it by order of the appellate court in the same manner as if such execution had been issued from its own court, but such power
shall not extend further than to stay proceedings until the matter can be further heard by the appellate court.
Source
R.S.1867, Code § 594, p. 499; Laws 1875, § 1, p. 40; R.S.1913, § 8199; Laws 1915, c. 21, § 2, p. 82; C.S.1922, § 9151; C.S.1929, § 20-1926; R.S.1943, § 25-1926; Laws 1991, LB 732, § 62.
Plain-English Summary
Section 25-1926 describes what happens mechanically once the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court reverses a judgment or final order, whether in whole or in part. The appellate court does not announce a reversal and stop there — it proceeds to render the judgment the court below should have rendered, or remands the case to that court for entry of such a judgment.
Enforcement runs through the district court, not the appellate court. The appellate court does not issue execution in cases removed to it that it has decided; instead, it sends a special mandate to the court below directing that execution be awarded, as the case requires. The court receiving that mandate proceeds as though the judgment or final order had been rendered there in the first place.
The district court also keeps a limited supervisory power once the mandate arrives. On motion and a showing of good cause, it may suspend execution made returnable before it, in the same way it could suspend execution issued from its own court, but that power only stretches far enough to stay proceedings until the appellate court can take up the matter again — it does not let the district court revisit the merits of the appellate decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the appellate court itself enforce a judgment after reversing a case?
No. It sends a special mandate to the court below directing that execution be awarded, rather than issuing execution itself.
What happens after the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court reverses a judgment?
The appellate court renders the judgment the court below should have rendered, or remands the case to that court for such a judgment.
Can the district court delay enforcing the mandate?
Yes, on motion and a showing of good cause, it may suspend execution returnable before it, but only to stay proceedings until the appellate court can hear the matter further.
Does the district court get to revisit the merits once the mandate arrives?
No. It proceeds in the same manner as if the judgment or final order had been rendered there, following the appellate court’s direction.
Does this section apply to a partial reversal as well as a full reversal?
Yes. It applies when a judgment or final order is reversed either in whole or in part.
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
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