Article 3: Nebraska Court Rules of Discovery in Civil Cases. (Effective January 1, 2025.) · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 22, 2026
This section prints two full, separately-dated versions in the official compilation (the January 1, 2025 discovery/pleading rewrite); both are shown below, current version first.
Current version (effective January 1, 2025)
COMMENT ON CIVIL DISCOVERY RULES These discovery rules follow the structure of the current discovery portion of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, but the content of the Nebraska rules is not always that of the federal rules. The federal rules were used for the structure because they are well known, being used in federal court and in many state courts, and because Nebraska originally followed the federal pattern when discovery was adopted in Nebraska in 1951. The committee considered the text of current Nebraska statutes, the current federal rules, recently proposed federal rules, and certain rules used in other states, and recommended the language that appears best for Nebraska practice. The federal rule numbers were retained for ease of comparison with the law of other jurisdictions. (The preceding comment and comments following each rule were adopted from the comments of the Supreme Court Committee on Practice and Procedure submitted to the Supreme Court in October 1981.) § 6-302 through § 6-325 [Reserved].
Prior version (in effect before January 1, 2025)
COMMENT ON CIVIL DISCOVERY RULES These discovery rules follow the structure of the current discovery portion of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, but the content of the Nebraska rules is not always that of the federal rules. The federal rules were used for the structure because they are well known, being used in federal court and in many state courts, and because Nebraska originally followed the federal pattern when discovery was adopted in Nebraska in 1951. The committee considered the text of current Nebraska statutes, the current federal rules, recently proposed federal rules, and certain rules used in other states, and recommended the language that appears best for Nebraska practice. The federal rule numbers were retained for ease of comparison with the law of other jurisdictions. (The preceding comment and comments following each rule were adopted from the comments of the Supreme Court Committee on Practice and Procedure submitted to the Supreme Court in October 1981.) § 6-302 through § 6-325 [Reserved].
Section 6-301 is the founding document behind Nebraska’s civil discovery rules. Acting under authority granted by Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1273.01, the Nebraska Supreme Court promulgated these discovery rules effective January 1, 1983. The rules apply, as written, in the district courts, and extend to every other Nebraska court to the extent they do not conflict with other statutes. Two rules get special mention for county courts: what are now Sections 6-326 and 6-337 applied to county court actions pending on the rules’ effective date.
The section’s comment explains a design choice worth knowing: Nebraska modeled the structure of its discovery rules on the federal rules, not because the content matches word for word, but because the federal numbering is familiar to practitioners and matches the pattern Nebraska had already followed since discovery was first adopted in 1951. The substance of individual Nebraska rules often differs from their federal counterparts — this section is the umbrella that puts the whole discovery framework into force.
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1273.01, under which the Court promulgated the rules effective January 1, 1983.
Yes, they apply in all other Nebraska courts to the extent not inconsistent with other statutes.
The federal numbering was retained for ease of comparison with other jurisdictions and because it matched the pattern Nebraska already used since adopting discovery in 1951 — not because the content is identical.
No. The rule’s own comment states the content is not always the same as the federal rules, even though the structure follows the federal pattern.
A Supreme Court Committee on Practice and Procedure reviewed then-current Nebraska statutes, federal rules, proposed federal rule changes, and rules from other states before recommending the language adopted here.