You got pulled over on I-80 near Lincoln, the officer found a small amount of marijuana, and you received a citation. Your friend says first-time possession is “just a ticket” in Nebraska, so you’re wondering whether hiring an attorney makes sense. The officer handed you paperwork, mentioned a court date, and said something about drug education.
Now you’re trying to decide: pay the fine and move on, or hire a lawyer?
The answer depends on what you’re willing to risk. Even first-offense marijuana possession creates permanent records that appear on background checks, jeopardize professional licenses, affect student status, and complicate housing applications for years. While Nebraska treats possession of one ounce or less as an infraction for first offenses, that infraction still creates consequences extending far beyond the $300 maximum fine.
Liberty Law Group defends marijuana charges across Nebraska because we understand that what looks like a simple citation today becomes a permanent problem tomorrow when employers, licensing boards, and universities discover it on your record.
Key Takeaways About Legal Representation for Nebraska Marijuana Charges
- First-offense marijuana possession under one ounce is an infraction in Nebraska, not a misdemeanor, but it still creates permanent records appearing on background checks
- Attorneys challenge unlawful searches, fight possession evidence, and pursue dismissals that eliminate record consequences entirely
- Diversion programs in some Nebraska counties allow first-time offenders to avoid conviction through drug education and probation
- Second and subsequent marijuana offenses escalate to misdemeanor charges, carrying potential jail time and criminal records
- Strategic legal defense addresses not just the criminal charge but collateral consequences affecting employment, student status, professional licenses, and immigration standing
Nebraska’s Marijuana Possession Laws
Nebraska criminalizes all marijuana possession under Nebraska Revised Statute § 28-416 regardless of quantity or purpose and the penalties for possessing marijuana vary depending on the offense. The state makes no exception for medical use, personal consumption, or marijuana legally purchased elsewhere.
First-time possession of one ounce or less constitutes an infraction carrying a maximum $300 fine and mandatory drug education. Many people assume infractions don’t create records, but that’s false. Infractions appear on background checks, require disclosure on employment applications and professional licensing forms, and create permanent documentation that you possessed illegal drugs.
The drug education requirement mandates attendance at approved courses that charge fees and require several hours of instruction. Failure to complete education can trigger misdemeanor charges, resulting in significantly escalating consequences.
Second and Subsequent Offenses: Criminal Misdemeanors
Second marijuana possession offenses (one ounce or less) constitute Class IV misdemeanors carrying a maximum of five days in jail and $500 fine. Third and subsequent offenses escalate to Class IIIA misdemeanors carrying maximum seven days jail and $500 fine.
These escalating penalties mean that paying your first-offense infraction fine without fighting it sets you up for criminal charges if you’re ever caught again. What seems like a minor citation today can become the foundation for a criminal prosecution tomorrow.
Intent to Deliver Charges
When police find packaging materials, scales, large quantities, or evidence suggesting distribution rather than personal use, prosecutors charge possession with intent to deliver. These charges range from Class III misdemeanors to Class III felonies, depending on the quantity, carrying potential prison sentences, and resulting in permanent felony records.
Officers sometimes claim that packaging materials prove distribution intent, even when the evidence clearly suggests personal use. Attorneys challenge these intent allegations by presenting alternative explanations for the evidence and demonstrating insufficient proof of distribution beyond a reasonable doubt.
Why “Just Paying the Fine” Could Create Long-Term Problems
The immediate cost of a marijuana citation, the fine itself, could represent the smallest expense you’ll face. Long-term consequences dwarf initial penalties.
Employment Background Checks
Most employers conduct criminal background checks before hiring. Marijuana infractions appear on these checks alongside misdemeanor and felony convictions. While infractions aren’t technically crimes, they document illegal drug possession.
Professional positions, government jobs, healthcare employment, education careers, and positions involving children or vulnerable populations often reject applicants with any drug-related record entries. You might pass the interview, receive a conditional job offer, then lose it when background checks reveal marijuana possession.
Professional Licensing Consequences
Attorneys, nurses, teachers, real estate agents, insurance agents, accountants, and other licensed professionals must disclose criminal history to licensing boards. Marijuana possession triggers board investigations, disciplinary proceedings, and potential license suspensions or denials.
College students pursuing professional degrees face additional complications, making college student defense especially important. Nursing programs, law schools, and medical schools require criminal history disclosures, and marijuana possession sometimes results in program dismissal or bars you from sitting for licensing examinations after graduation.
Student Status and Financial Aid
University student conduct codes operate independently from criminal courts. Marijuana charges trigger disciplinary proceedings that might result in suspension or expulsion, separate from criminal penalties. These proceedings use lower proof standards than criminal courts, making it easier for universities to impose sanctions.
Federal financial aid eligibility faces suspension for students convicted of drug offenses during enrollment periods under 20 U.S.C. § 1091(r). Conviction timing and classification determine suspension periods, ranging from one year to indefinite ineligibility. Losing financial aid forces students to leave school, delay graduation, or assume substantial debt to continue education.
Housing Applications
Landlords conduct background checks and frequently deny applications from individuals with drug-related records. Competitive rental markets in college towns and urban areas provide landlords with extensive applicant pools, enabling them to reject anyone with a record, regardless of the severity of the offense or the passage of time.
Public housing programs maintain even stricter standards, with federal regulations allowing public housing authorities to deny applicants with drug-related criminal activity. These denials affect not just applicants but entire families seeking affordable housing assistance.
Immigration Consequences
Non-citizens face immigration consequences from marijuana convictions that U.S. citizens never experience. Drug-related convictions trigger deportation proceedings, bar adjustment of status applications, and create inadmissibility issues preventing reentry after international travel.
Immigration law treats marijuana convictions harshly despite changing state laws, and federal immigration authorities don’t recognize state-level decriminalization or legalization. A Nebraska marijuana infraction that seems minor to citizens creates visa cancellations and deportation risks for non-citizens.
How Attorneys Challenge Marijuana Charges in Nebraska
Experienced criminal defense attorneys identify multiple defense opportunities in marijuana cases that defendants representing themselves typically miss.
Challenging Traffic Stops and Search Validity
Many marijuana charges originate from traffic stops. Officers must possess reasonable suspicion of traffic violations or criminal activity to justify stops. Common pretextual justifications, like minor equipment violations, crossing fog lines, and failure to signal, sometimes lack legal sufficiency.
Defense attorneys challenge stops by examining:
- Officer testimony regarding observed violations
- Dashboard camera and body camera footage
- Whether articulated violations actually occurred or officers fabricated justifications
If stops lacked reasonable suspicion, all evidence obtained afterward becomes subject to suppression through Fourth Amendment challenges.
Contesting Search Legality
Vehicle searches require consent, probable cause, search incident to arrest, or inventory search justifications. Each search type requires specific legal prerequisites that officers sometimes fail to satisfy.
Consent searches must be voluntary. Officers might pressure drivers into agreeing through intimidation, false claims about search inevitability, or language barriers preventing understanding. Video evidence sometimes contradicts officer claims that defendants voluntarily consented.
Probable cause searches require officers to articulate specific facts supporting a reasonable belief that contraband exists in the searched areas. Generalized suspicions, nervousness, or hunches don’t constitute probable cause. Attorneys challenge searches supported only by conclusory statements lacking specific factual foundations.
Attacking Constructive Possession Theories
Prosecutors may charge constructive possession when marijuana isn’t found directly on the defendant, but in vehicles or areas the defendant occupied. Constructive possession requires proof that defendants knew marijuana was present and exercised control over it.
Defense challenges focus on:
- Shared vehicles or spaces where multiple people had access
- Hidden marijuana that defendants couldn’t reasonably have known about
- Other occupants who might have possessed marijuana
- Lack of evidence connecting defendants to marijuana beyond mere proximity
Successful constructive possession defenses result in dismissals when prosecutors can’t prove defendants actually possessed marijuana found in shared spaces.
Negotiating Charge Reductions
Drug charges attorneys negotiate with prosecutors to reduce marijuana charges or achieve alternative dispositions. When searches contain legal weaknesses, evidence problems exist, or defendants present clean backgrounds, prosecutors sometimes agree to dismiss charges or reduce them to lesser offenses.
Strategic negotiation requires understanding prosecutor priorities, presenting mitigating circumstances, and demonstrating trial risks when evidence doesn’t strongly support charges. Defendants representing themselves lack negotiating leverage and legal knowledge to identify weaknesses prosecutors might address through favorable plea agreements.
Diversion Programs and Alternative Dispositions
Some Nebraska counties offer pretrial diversion programs, sometimes allowing first-time marijuana offenders to avoid conviction through drug education, community service, and probation completion.
The primary benefit of diversion programs involves avoiding a conviction record. Completing diversion results in dismissal, meaning no conviction appears on background checks, and defendants can honestly state they’ve never been convicted.
This outcome eliminates employment barriers, professional licensing complications, student conduct problems, and housing application rejections that convictions create. The difference between conviction and dismissal through diversion represents the difference between permanent record consequences and a clean record.
Setting Aside Marijuana Convictions in Nebraska
When convictions can’t be avoided, Nebraska law provides limited record relief through set-aside procedures under Nebraska Revised Statute § 29-2264.
Petition to Set Aside Process
Defendants convicted of marijuana infractions or misdemeanors might petition courts to set aside convictions after completing sentences and waiting periods. Set-aside orders don’t erase convictions; instead, they represent court findings that defendants have been rehabilitated and should receive civil rights restoration.
Set-aside convictions still appear on criminal records but are marked as “set aside,” potentially reducing some consequences. However, set-aside convictions still require disclosure on many employment applications, professional licensing forms, and university applications.
Limitations of Set-Aside Relief
Set-aside procedures provide incomplete relief compared to avoiding conviction entirely. The process requires:
- Completing all sentence terms, including probation
- Waiting periods before filing petitions
- Court hearings where prosecutors might oppose relief
- Legal fees for petition preparation and hearing representation
Even successful set-aside orders don’t eliminate convictions from records. Employers, licensing boards, and universities still see the underlying convictions and might still treat them as disqualifying despite set-aside status.
This limited relief underscores the importance of fighting charges initially rather than accepting convictions and hoping for record relief later. A defense lawyer who understands record sealing, set-asides, and expungement can help you create a plan forward.
The Real Cost Comparison: Hiring an Attorney vs. Going Alone
The financial calculation for hiring attorneys extends beyond attorney fees versus fines.
FAQ for Hiring a Lawyer for My Nebraska Marijuana Charge
Can a Lawyer Get My Marijuana Charge Reduced or Dismissed?
Dismissal and reduction opportunities exist when searches violated Fourth Amendment protections, evidence was obtained improperly, or prosecutors face proof problems regarding knowing possession. When dismissals aren’t achievable, strategic negotiation might produce charge reductions or diversion admissions that eliminate or minimize record consequences.
What If the Marijuana Was Found After a Traffic Stop? Was the Search Legal?
Vehicle searches might violate Fourth Amendment protections if officers did not have reasonable suspicion to stop vehicles and probable cause or consent to search them. Attorneys challenge stops lacking legal justification and searches exceeding the permissible scope, potentially leading to evidence suppression.
What Happens If I Miss My Court Date for a Marijuana Charge?
Missing your court date may result in a bench warrant for your arrest and additional charges for failure to appear. Failure to appear constitutes a separate criminal offense that compounds your original marijuana charge with new misdemeanor charges carrying potential jail time. Attorneys can sometimes file motions to recall warrants and reschedule hearings without arrest, but this requires immediate action.
Can My Employer Fire Me for a Marijuana Charge Even If I’m Not Convicted Yet?
Nebraska is an at-will employment state, meaning employers can terminate employees for most reasons, including pending criminal charges. Many employers have zero-tolerance drug policies that trigger immediate termination upon arrest, regardless of the case outcome. Some employment contracts, union agreements, or public sector positions provide more protection.
If Marijuana Becomes Legal in Nebraska in the Future, Will My Old Conviction Be Erased?
No. If Nebraska legalizes marijuana, existing convictions don’t automatically disappear from your record. Other states that have legalized marijuana have created specific legislative processes allowing people to petition for conviction relief, but these processes require individuals to file petitions, pay fees, and sometimes appear in court. Nebraska would need to pass similar legislation creating a pathway for record relief.
Protecting Your Future Starts With Your First Decision
The choice to hire an attorney or represent yourself determines the course of your case and the impact on your future. Defendants who pay fines without understanding long-term implications discover too late that they’ve created barriers to employment, licensing, education, and housing that persist for years.
Nebraska’s marijuana laws remain strict compared to those of surrounding states, and prosecutors pursue even minor possession cases aggressively. Strategic defense can identify constitutional violations, challenge weak evidence, pursue diversion opportunities, and negotiate favorable outcomes that self-represented defendants may struggle to achieve.
Liberty Law Group defends marijuana charges in Nebraska courts with aggressive advocacy. We challenge unlawful searches, fight possession theories, secure diversion admissions, and protect clients from collateral consequences extending far beyond criminal penalties. Contact our Lincoln or Omaha office to discuss your marijuana charge and learn how strategic defense protects your future.
