Requesting a Legislative History
Return to Legislative Histories
Return to Legislative Histories
Contact the legislative historian via telephone, e-mail or postal mail to request a legislative history. Contact information is provided below:
Legislative HistorianClerk of the Legislature's Office
State Capitol, Room 2014
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-3215
histories@leg.ne.gov
The size of a request will dictate how long it takes to complete, so please turn in your requests in advance of any deadlines you may have. Most requests can be filled within two to three days.
If you would prefer to search the archived microfilm in person, the microfilm viewer is available to the public in the Clerk's Office (State Capitol, Room 2014) during regular office hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
You may also contact the legislative historian if you have a question regarding your own search for a legislative history, even if you do not need to request a full history from the Clerk's Office.
Each page of a legislative history costs 15 cents, plus applicable sales tax. If the legislative history is mailed to you, postage costs will also apply. Those using the microfilm copier may also make copies from the microfilm viewer for 15 cents per page.
You will need one of the following pieces of information in order for the legislative historian to process your request:
- The legislative bill number and the year the bill was introduced or passed; OR
- A statutory reference.
Please note that the numbering of legislative bills begins with "LB 1" at the beginning of each new legislative biennium. (Each two-year legislative biennium begins in an odd-numbered year.) Therefore, the year in which the bill was introduced or passed is needed in addition to the bill number.
If your search is from a section of the Nebraska Statutes, consult the statute "source" listed at the end of the section number. The source will identify the bills in which the statute was drafted or amended. Also, be sure to check any supplements that may have been printed since the "Reissue Volume" was issued. The "Index to Bills Passed," found in the back of "Nebraska Session Laws," also identifies amendments to the section that are too new to appear in the supplement.
If your sources refer to a bill introduced prior to 1971, the citation will be referenced as a chapter number, rather than a bill number. To get the legislative bill number, refer to the referenced page and chapter number in the appropriate year of the "Nebraska Session Laws."
If you are compiling a history on an article in the Nebraska Constitution, your source may refer you to a legislative bill or to an initiative. If a constitutional amendment was placed on the ballot by initiative petition - rather than legislative action - there will be no legislative record.
