§ 6-1208.Operational requirements.

Section 6-1208 governs how an approved problem-solving court has to run. Every program must be postplea or postadjudication (and, for reentry courts, postsentencing), and — with the exception of family dependency drug courts — new programs must use probation personnel. Before receiving Administrative Office of the Courts funding, a program needs an interlocal agreement or contract in place: with the Office of Probation Administration if it uses probation staff, with the Administrative Office of the Courts if it doesn’t, and with the Department of Health and Human Services for family treatment courts.

The rule bars turning anyone away based on financial status, gender, age, race, religion, disability, or ethnicity, and requires participants to sign a consent for disclosure that meets federal substance-use confidentiality law before entering the program. Every program needs a core team of professionals responsible for case management, and that team has to complete orientation and ongoing training set by the Director of Judicial Branch Education using national and state best practices.

Programs must tell the Administrative Office of the Courts, in writing, where their funding comes from, and are encouraged to pursue available federal or grant funding. Where a program collects fees, a participant’s inability to pay can’t be used to deny entry, block advancement, or justify termination — though the court retains discretion over how to handle that inability. Participants pay their fees to the clerk of the court, who collects and reports them under the law and the Administrative Office’s policies. And every program has to collect and report management data through the Nebraska Probation Application for Community Safety System, following evidence-based practices and best-practice standards, subject to the Supreme Court’s authority to grant written exemptions.