Whenever a suit praying for an interlocutory injunction shall have been begun in the United States District Court in any Division in the State of Nebraska to restrain any official or officials of the State of Nebraska from enforcing or administering any statute of the State of Nebraska, or from enforcing or administering any administrative order of any department, bureau or commission of this state, or to set aside or enjoin such statute or administrative order, any defendant in such suit or the Attorney General of the State of Nebraska may bring an action to enforce said statute or order in the district court of the county of the State of Nebraska in which the State Capitol of said state is located at any time before the hearing or application for said interlocutory injunction in the suit in the United States District Court, District of Nebraska, in the proper Division thereof; and jurisdiction is hereby conferred on the district court of the county of the State of Nebraska in which its State Capitol is located to entertain such suit with the powers hereinafter granted.
§ 25-21,165.By whom brought; jurisdiction.
Article 21: Special Proceedings and Actions · Last amended 1929 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis section lets a defendant, or the Nebraska Attorney General, bring an action in the district court of the county holding the State Capitol to enforce a state statute or order once a federal suit for an interlocutory injunction against it is filed, before the federal hearing.
Full Text of § 25-21,165
Source
Laws 1929, c. 79, § 1, p. 268; C.S.1929, § 20-21,156; R.S.1943, § 25-21,165.
Plain-English Summary
Section 25-21,165 addresses a specific procedural moment: a lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court in Nebraska asking for an interlocutory injunction to stop a state official from enforcing or administering a Nebraska statute or an administrative order of a state department, bureau, or commission, or to set aside or enjoin that statute or order. This section gives Nebraska a way to respond in its own courts while that federal case is still pending.
Either a defendant named in the federal suit, or the Attorney General of Nebraska, may bring an action to enforce the challenged statute or order in the district court of the county where the State Capitol is located. That filing has to happen before the hearing on the interlocutory injunction application in the federal case. Once that state-court action is filed, this section confers jurisdiction on that particular county’s district court to hear the case, with the additional powers the next section describes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of federal lawsuit triggers this section?
A suit in the United States District Court in Nebraska seeking an interlocutory injunction against a state official to stop them from enforcing or administering a Nebraska statute or administrative order, or to set aside or enjoin that statute or order.
Who can bring the state-court enforcement action?
Any defendant in the federal suit, or the Attorney General of the State of Nebraska.
Where is this state-court enforcement action filed?
In the district court of the county in which the State Capitol of Nebraska is located.
Is there a deadline for bringing this state-court action?
Yes. It must be brought at any time before the hearing on the application for the interlocutory injunction in the federal district court proceeding.
Does this section give that particular district court authority it would not otherwise have?
Yes. Section 25-21,165 confers jurisdiction on the district court of the county where the State Capitol is located to hear this kind of enforcement suit.
What happens after this state-court action is filed?
Section 25-21,166 describes what follows, including a stay of proceedings against the state officer and certification of the filing back to the federal court.
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: nebraska attorney general federal injunction suitdistrict court state capitol jurisdictionenforce state statute federal challengeinterlocutory injunction nebraska statutedefendant enforcement action state officer