District Court

Clerk of the District Court

Susan Kelly
P.O. Box 824
Bridgeport, NE .69336

Phone: 308-262-1261
Fax: 308-262-1799
Email: susan.kelly@nejudicial.gov

The office of Clerk of the District Court is an elected position. Duties include filing of new cases and receiving, filing and maintaining all subsequent pleadings in District Court matters. Filing includes scanning, microfilming, indexing and placing paper documents in the court files. All pleadings are entered electronically into the State Court Administrators statewide computer system known as JUSTICE. Many of the pleadings demand action by the Clerk. Actions may include issuing a summons or subpoena, preparing warrants for the judge's signature, entering information for money judgments into JUSTICE, receipting and disbursing funds for fees and collections on judgments.

Cases filed fall into two categories, civil and criminal.

*Civil matters include domestic issues such as dissolutions of marriage, child support, paternity, custody; protection orders, harassment and domestic; litigation for negligence, property disputes, contract disputes, name change, foreclosures; appeals from County Court and Small Claims Court; transcribed judgments from other courts.

*Criminal matters include felony cases, misdemeanors reduced from felonies; appeals from County Court; search warrants.

Court Modernization Rules changed in 2022 for the General Public:

Individuals without attorneys:

Self-represented litigants may continue to file paper documents with the Clerk of the District Court. People filing without legal representation will be required to provide a valid email address upon filing any petition, motion, or brief with the Clerk's office.

Further information on this, as well as self-help forms, court rules and court filing information

is available at supremecourt.nebraska.gov

Nebraska Statutes - nebraskalegislature.gov

Electronic payment of fines, costs and judgments - epayments

JURY TRIALS

The Clerk of the District Court also serves as Jury Commissioner in Morrill County. A list of eligible citizens is obtained from current drivers' license and voter registration records. From that combined list, random names are drawn as a prospective juror for a one year term. It is the Jury Commissioner's responsibility to see that the potential jurors are present for court dates as scheduled by the judges and to do the actual drawing of names in the courtroom before each trial. Once the jurors are selected and sworn in, the Bailiff is responsible for their welfare and adherence to rules during the trial. The Clerk of District Court is responsible for any payments of appearance and mileage for Jurors or Witnesses in a trial.

General Jury Service Information may be found at supremecourt.nebraska.gov

Frequently Asked Questions:

*Juror Handbook
*Juror Qualifications
*Employer of Juror Brochure

PASSPORTS

The Clerk of the District Court is a passport application agent for the U. S. Department of State. The agent executes the paperwork and must be personally assured that the citizenship and identity of the applicants are valid.

Passports applications are accepted in the Office of Clerk of the District Court. Appointments are not required but a phone call is suggested before arrival.

Applicants will need:

*DS-11 application form

(available in the office or on the U S Department of State website - www.travel.state.gov)
*Certified state issued birth certificate (or naturalization papers)
*One passport photo (photography services not available in the office)
*Driver's license or picture id.

Payment may be made by personal check or money order. Separate payments are needed for the passport fee and for the execution fee. Credit cards are not accepted.

Birth records by state are available at - www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm

Current information on processing time, fees, travel advisories and status of a pending application is available on - www.travel.state.gov

Passport renewals in many instances can be done by the applicant using form DS-82 available on - www.travel.state.gov