Night Court

Lancaster County Court will be holding after hours "Night Court" sessions on the following evenings listed below. These sessions will be held on the second floor of the Lancaster County Courthouse in Lancaster County Court room number 24 and will run from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.   

Thursday, February 16th 2023  Judge Acton

Thursday, April 20th 2023  Judge Dalton

Thursday, June 15th 2023  Judge Parsley

Thursday, August 17th 2023  Judge Phillips

Thursday, October 19th 2023  Judge Yardley

Thursday, December 21st 2023  Judge Zimmerman

Purpose of Night Court

The purpose of these additional court sessions is to provide greater access to the justice system to those individuals that cannot miss work to attend regular court sessions without risking termination of their employment. It will also allow individuals that watch children during regular business hours to arrange for a family member who is off work to watch their children while they attend court.

This pilot project is conducted in conjunction with the 

  • Lancaster County Court
  • Lancaster County Attorney's Office
  • Lincoln City Attorney's Office
  • Lancaster County Sheriff's Office

Court Matters

Only non-custody matters will be dealt with and heard during these special court sessions. Matters that can be addressed during these sessions will include the following, to-wit:

  • Felony non-custody docket calls or preliminary hearing waivers in felony cases not yet bound over to the District Court
  • Felony non-custody matters where the Defendant's will be pleading to charges that are being reduced to misdemeanor offenses
  • Misdemeanor non-custody cases
  • Misdemeanor warrants and pleas

Hearings Not Included in Night Court

There will be no:

  • Bond reviews of individuals in custody 
  • Evidentiary hearing
  • Individuals in custody will be transported for hearings
  • Preliminary hearings
  • Trials

Scheduling

Attorneys are encouraged to file motions ahead of these dates requesting hearings at these special sessions. Doing this ahead of time will assist the Court with scheduling and staffing. 

Individuals that are not represented by an attorney may call the Criminal/Traffic desk of the Court Clerk's office at 402-441-8959 for instructions on what they need to do to set their case for one of these special sessions.

Jail Holds

Outstanding warrants on Class I misdemeanor charges where sentencings have been missed by the Defendants and the Court has placed a "Hold For Court" order on the individual will not be recalled. Those individuals would be lodged at the Lancaster County Jail and dealt with the following day. 

Individuals with felony warrants will also be taken into custody and dealt with the following day.