Sentence for felony other than Class III, IIIA, or IV felony; court; duties; study of offender; when; defendant under eighteen years of age; disposition.
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2204
in effect29-2204. Sentence for felony other than Class III, IIIA, or IV felony; court; duties; study of offender; when; defendant under eighteen years of age; disposition.
(1) Except when a term of life imprisonment is required by law, in imposing a sentence upon an offender for any class of felony other than a Class III, IIIA, or IV felony, the court shall fix the minimum and the maximum terms of the sentence to be served within the limits provided by law. The maximum term shall not be greater than the maximum limit provided by law, and:
(a) The minimum term fixed by the court shall be any term of years less than the maximum term imposed by the court; or
(b) The minimum term shall be the minimum limit provided by law.
(2) When a maximum term of life is imposed by the court for a Class IB felony, the minimum term fixed by the court shall be:
(a) Any term of years not less than the minimum limit provided by law; or
(b) A term of life imprisonment.
(3) When a maximum term of life is imposed by the court for a Class IA felony, the minimum term fixed by the court shall be:
(a) A term of life imprisonment; or
(b) Any term of years not less than the minimum limit provided by law after consideration of the mitigating factors in section 28-105.02, if the defendant was under eighteen years of age at the time he or she committed the crime for which he or she was convicted.
(4) When the court is of the opinion that imprisonment may be appropriate but desires more detailed information as a basis for determining the sentence to be imposed than has been provided by the presentence report required by section 29-2261, the court may commit an offender to the Department of Correctional Services. During that time, the department shall conduct a complete study of the offender as provided in section 29-2204.03.
(5) Except when a term of life is required by law, whenever the defendant was under eighteen years of age at the time he or she committed the crime for which he or she was convicted, the court may, in its discretion, instead of imposing the penalty provided for the crime, make such disposition of the defendant as the court deems proper under the Nebraska Juvenile Code.
(6)(a) When imposing an indeterminate sentence upon an offender under this section, the court shall:
(i) Advise the offender on the record the time the offender will serve on his or her minimum term before attaining parole eligibility assuming that no good time for which the offender will be eligible is lost; and
(ii) Advise the offender on the record the time the offender will serve on his or her maximum term before attaining mandatory release assuming that no good time for which the offender will be eligible is lost.
(b) If any discrepancy exists between the statement of the minimum limit of the sentence and the statement of parole eligibility or between the statement of the maximum limit of the sentence and the statement of mandatory release, the statements of the minimum limit and the maximum limit shall control the calculation of the offender's term.
(c) If the court imposes more than one sentence upon an offender or imposes a sentence upon an offender who is at that time serving another sentence, the court shall state whether the sentences are to be concurrent or consecutive.
G.S.1873, c. 58, § 498, p. 832; R.S.1913, § 9140; C.S.1922, § 10165; C.S.1929, § 29-2205; R.S.1943, § 29-2204; Laws 1974, LB 620, § 7; Laws 1988, LB 790, § 3; Laws 1993, LB 31, § 9; Laws 1993, LB 529, § 1; Laws 1993, LB 627, § 1; Laws 1994, LB 988, § 8; Laws 1995, LB 371, § 12; Laws 1997, LB 364, § 14; Laws 1998, LB 1073, § 10; Laws 2002, Third Spec. Sess., LB 1, § 8; Laws 2011, LB12, § 2; Laws 2013, LB561, § 2; Laws 2015, LB268, § 19; Laws 2015, LB605, § 60; Referendum 2016, No. 426. Note: The changes made to section 29-2204 by Laws 2015, LB 268, section 19, have been omitted because of the vote on the referendum at the November 2016 general election.
Source: Nebraska Legislature (nebraskalegislature.gov)URL: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=29-2204Fetched: 10/20/2026