How to get police and traffic camera video of a crash in Nebraska

The public records law that gets you the video

Nebraska Public Records Statutes, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§84-712 to 84-712.09

Written request: 4 business days

Who may ask: all residents of Nebraska and all other persons interested in examining public records may examine them and get copies (Neb. Rev. Stat. §84-712(1)), and public records include all records and documents, regardless of physical form, of the state or any county, city, village or political subdivision (§84-712.01(1)), which takes in video. Deadline: upon receipt of a written request, the custodian must, as soon as is practicable and without delay but not more than four business days after actual receipt, give you an estimate of the cost and either access or copies, a written denial with the information §84-712.04 requires, or, if the whole request cannot with reasonable good faith efforts be fulfilled in four business days because of its significant difficulty or extensiveness, a written explanation with the earliest practicable date for fulfilling it, a cost estimate and a chance to narrow or prioritize the request (§84-712(4)). You then have ten business days to tell the custodian to proceed, narrow the request or withdraw it; if you do not respond, the custodian will not proceed. The four business days exclude the day the request is received and do not count Saturdays, Sundays or days the office is closed. Ask in writing: the clock runs only from a written request, and NDOT, for example, says telephone or text requests are not open records requests. Fees: copies may be in any form in which the record is kept, including electronic data and discs, and the fee may not exceed the actual added cost of making the copies; for electronic data that includes computer run time and any necessary analysis and programming (§84-712(3)(a), (b)). For Nebraska residents (and news media) the fee may not include staff salary for the first eight cumulative hours of searching, identifying, physically redacting or copying; a special service charge for labor may apply after eight hours, but never a charge for an attorney or anyone else reviewing records for a legal basis to withhold them (§84-712(3)(c), (5)). Nonresidents may be charged for staff and attorney review time from the start (§84-712(3)(d)). A custodian may require a deposit if copies are estimated to cost more than $50, and may waive or reduce fees in the public interest (§84-712(3)(g), (h)). Example, Nebraska State Patrol only: it charges once research time exceeds eight hours, at $96.00 an hour for computer technician time and $35.00 an hour for clerk time, billed to the half hour, $.25 a page for copies, and may require a deposit over $50.00.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Policy must keep body cam 90 days min

Body cameras: every law enforcement agency that uses body-worn cameras must adopt a written policy, its own or the model policy of the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (Neb. Rev. Stat. §81-1453). The policy must require that body camera recordings be kept at least ninety days from the date of recording, and longer: until final judgment, upon notice to the agency of a criminal or civil court proceeding in which the recording may have evidentiary value; until a final determination, upon notice of a disciplinary proceeding against an agency employee in which it may have evidentiary value; and until the investigation is officially closed or suspended, if the recording is part of a criminal investigation that has not led to an arrest or prosecution (§81-1454(2)). The statute covers cameras worn by uniformed officers and not devices used by plain clothes officers (§81-1452(1)). Release: we found no Nebraska statute that specifically governs public release of body camera or dashcam video, and no statute on dashcam retention, so the general public records law governs. Under it, a law enforcement agency “may” withhold records it developed or received when they are part of an examination, investigation, intelligence information, complaints or inquiries, informant identification, or strategic or tactical information used in law enforcement training, unless they were publicly disclosed in open court, an open administrative proceeding or an open meeting, or disclosed by a public entity pursuant to its duties (§84-712.05(5)). The Attorney General’s public records guide says the §84-712.05 exceptions simply permit nondisclosure and do not require confidentiality, so the agency may choose to release. Two limits help crash victims: the exception does not cover records relating to the presence and amount or concentration of alcohol or drugs in any person’s body fluid (§84-712.05(5)(a)), and any reasonably segregable public portion of a record must be provided after the portions that may be withheld are deleted (§84-712.06). If you are denied, the written denial must describe what was withheld, give the specific reasons with the statute and subsection relied on, and name the official responsible (§84-712.04). Ask the agency in your first letter to preserve the video, and say whether a civil or criminal case has been filed, since a court proceeding extends the ninety-day minimum.

When police can hold video back

May be withheld; law sets no end date

The investigation exception, Neb. Rev. Stat. §84-712.05(5), lets law enforcement agencies and other public bodies charged with duties of investigation withhold records they developed or received when the records are part of an examination, investigation or intelligence information, among others. The statute does not say the exception ends when an investigation closes or a case is resolved. The Nebraska Supreme Court’s test, quoted in the Attorney General’s guide and in the statute’s annotations, is whether (1) the activity giving rise to the record is related to the public body’s duty of investigation and (2) the relationship between the investigation and that duty supports a colorable claim of rationality (Evertson v. City of Kimball, 2009; Jacob v. Nebraska Bd. of Parole, 2022); the annotations also note the court’s rule that exemptions are narrowly construed and that a public body opposing disclosure must show by clear and convincing evidence that an exemption applies. The State Patrol’s records page says that if your request involves a pending criminal case, it may be denied until that case has been resolved. Incident reports: original records of entry such as police blotters, offense reports or incident reports kept by criminal justice agencies are public records (§29-3521(2)), but the Attorney General’s guide says the Court of Appeals held, in an unpublished 1993 decision (Fourcloud v. City of Fremont), that such reports may still be withheld if they are part of investigative information under §84-712.05(5). Crash reports by officers are open to public inspection except as §84-712.05 provides (§60-699(4)). Subdivision (5) also says it does not require access to informant identification, the names or identifying information of members of the public making complaints or inquiries, other information which would compromise an ongoing criminal investigation, or information which may be withheld under another provision of law.

Do traffic cameras in Nebraska record?

NDOT: camera images are not archived

NDOT’s Highway Camera Policy, on its Policies and Disclaimers page, says the cameras and their images are for transportation purposes only unless otherwise approved, with exceptions such as Amber Alerts, weather monitoring, traffic counting and detection, that cameras will not be used intrusively to violate personal privacy, and: “Camera images are not archived.” We found no NDOT page describing any process for requesting saved camera video. If you think an NDOT camera caught the crash, you can still ask right away in writing, by NDOT’s public records form or by email to NDOT.PublicRecords@Nebraska.gov, whether any recording exists for that camera and time; NDOT says requests must be in writing. Cameras run by a city are separate systems with their own practices; ask that city in writing promptly.

Red-light and speed cameras

No authorizing statute found

We found no Nebraska statute that authorizes red-light or speed camera citations. The Legislature’s Legislative Research Office (November 2025 brief “To Some, a Red-Light Means Go?”) says that in Chambers v. City of Omaha (1998), the Douglas County District Court enjoined Omaha’s 1998 red-light camera ordinance, holding that the city lacked legislative authority to implement it and that its fees were fines that the state constitution sends to the schools, and that proponents, recognizing that cities and villages lack legislative authority to implement red-light camera programs, have made four attempts to authorize cameras by statute since 1999. Three failed, and the fourth, LB616, was still under consideration when the brief was written. We found no slip law for LB616 among the bills enacted in 2025 or 2026, and no enacted 2025 or 2026 bill that mentions red-light, speed or automated enforcement cameras, so as of October 29, 2026 we found no Nebraska camera ticket program to request images from.

If your request is denied

AG petition (15-day ruling) or court

A person denied any right under the public records law may choose (Neb. Rev. Stat. §84-712.03(1)): (a) file for speedy relief by a writ of mandamus in the district court where the custodian can be served; or (b) petition the Attorney General to decide whether the record may be withheld or the public body otherwise failed to comply, including whether its fees are actual added costs or proper special service charges. The Attorney General must decide within fifteen calendar days after the petition is submitted, and if it determines the record may not be withheld or the public body is otherwise not complying, the public body must be ordered to disclose the record immediately or otherwise comply. If it still refuses, you may sue in the trial court of general jurisdiction or demand in writing that the Attorney General sue in the name of the state, which the Attorney General must do within fifteen calendar days of the demand, and you may intervene as a full party. In court the matter is decided de novo, the burden is on the public body, the judge may view the records privately, and the case is advanced on the docket (§84-712.03(2), (3)). If you substantially prevail, the court may award reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs against the public body (§84-712.07). An official who violates the law is subject to removal or impeachment and is guilty of a Class III misdemeanor (§84-712.09). The Attorney General’s Public Records Petition Form asks for a copy of your written request and every response; send it by email to ago.pr-om@nebraska.gov, by fax to 402-471-3297, or by mail to the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, Attention: Public Records Petition, P.O. Box 98920, Lincoln, NE 68509. We found no filing deadline for either route in the statutes, but body camera video may be kept only ninety days, so act quickly. You may want to ask a lawyer about a subpoena or court order if a lawsuit over the crash is filed.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send a written records request at once

   Ask the responding police department, sheriff or State Patrol in writing for body camera and dashcam video, with the date, time, location and any case number, and ask that it be preserved.

2. 2

   Expect a reply within four business days

   The custodian must give access, a written denial, or a written explanation with the earliest practicable date and a cost estimate within four business days of receiving your written request.

3. 3

   Ask NDOT in writing anyway

   NDOT says its camera images are not archived; if a state camera covered the crash, a quick written request to NDOT.PublicRecords@Nebraska.gov settles whether anything exists.

4. 4

   Petition the Attorney General if denied

   Use the Public Records Petition Form with a copy of your request and the denial; the Attorney General must decide within 15 calendar days.

5. 5

   Post the crash on the bounty board

   Dashcam and business camera footage is not in any public agency’s files and is often overwritten within days.

Frequently asked questions