§ 6-601.Definitions; interim use by non-attorney users; sunset.

Section 6-601 opens Article 6 with a definition: to "fax" means to transmit and reproduce a facsimile of an original document by electronic means. Everything else in the section is about who may use that method to file with a Nebraska court, and for how much longer.

Until July 1, 2028 — unless the Nebraska Supreme Court advances or extends that date — every Nebraska court has to accept a fax transmission of a pleading, motion, or other document from a non-attorney, as long as statutory filing fees are prepaid. Appellate court briefs are excluded from this even for non-attorneys. But this interim allowance is only for people representing themselves: a party represented by a Nebraska attorney cannot fax-file on their own and instead has to file everything through that attorney using the electronic filing system described in Neb. Ct. R. § 2-201 et seq.

Attorneys face the opposite default. Nebraska attorneys are generally prohibited from using fax machines to file any document in any Nebraska court, full stop, with two narrow exceptions: filings under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court rules, and filings made under Neb. Ct. R. § 2-213(C), which covers extended unavailability of the electronic filing system. Outside those two situations, attorneys are expected to use electronic filing rather than a fax machine.