§ 25-21,206.Actions against state; where brought; procedure; transfer of actions.

Section 25-21,206 is the general-purpose venue and procedure rule for suing the state on a contract or a statute. The state may be sued in the district court of Lancaster County on any matter founded on a contract, express or implied, that the Legislature authorized or later ratified, or founded on any law of the state. The complaint follows the requirements in section 25-21,202, and summons issues and is served the same way described in section 25-21,203. Beyond those specifics, the ordinary rules of pleading and practice that govern other civil actions in district court apply to actions by or against the state, so far as they fit, except where this framework says otherwise.

The section also handles the mistake of filing in the wrong place. If a claimant commences the action somewhere other than Lancaster County, or the alternate venue this section or section 25-21,203 allows, the court where the case landed still has jurisdiction, but must transfer it to the proper county on a timely motion from a defendant. The court receiving the transferred case can, in its discretion, order the plaintiff to pay the defendant’s reasonable expenses — including attorney’s fees — caused by the improper venue or by the transfer proceedings.