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Legal Information: Nebraska

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
December 18, 2023

Do I need to bring anything to court?

On the initial court date, when filing for your order, you may need to bring photo identification in order to show the person notarizing your signature.

On the return court date (if there is a show-cause hearing), it is often best to get a lawyer to represent you in a hearing.  You and your lawyer will discuss what you should bring with you on the court date.  Go to our NE Finding a Lawyer page for legal referrals. If you are going to be representing yourself, you may want to bring any proof of harassment with you that you may have, such as:

  • Photographs of injuries (and if possible the person who took the photographs);
  • Any threatening notes, emails, phone or text messages (Note: please talk to a lawyer about the best way to submit evidence of voicemails or text messages. Brining the phone into court to show the texts to the judge, for example, may not be practical if the judge will want to keep the phone in the court file as is done with other evidence that is used in the hearing); and
  • A witness who saw or overheard the harassment (keep in mind, however, that some courts only allow the person being harassed and the harasser to testify).1

See also our At the Hearing page for more tips and information on what to expect at a hearing and how to prepare yourself beforehand.

1 See NE Judicial Branch website’s frequently asked questions page.