Sean Conway
Eric Chandler
Marcus Sladek 
Natalie Andrews
Cory J. RooneyCriminal Defense
How Much Jail Time Will I Get?
Chandler | Conway
As a criminal attorney, this is one of the first questions I often hear when answering the phone or meeting with a client. While how much jail time you will receive depends highly on the offense, the facts surrounding the alleged offense, your age, your prior criminal history, and a multitude of other potential relevant factors; there are guidelines that you can look to which will at least provide you with a best and worst case scenario should you be sentenced to a term of incarceration. Sometimes the statutory, or guideline, sentences will be inaccurate, as they do not take into account plea agreements worked out by your criminal defense lawyer.
In Nebraska state criminal cases, offenses are grouped into different classifications. Each classification has a minimum and maximum punishment for that specified offense. Crimes are grouped as either infractions, misdemeanors or felonies. Then there are additional sub-classifications within each of those categories (i.e. Class I Felony vs. Class IV Felony).
The first place to start when trying to figure out how much jail time you are facing is to figure out what classification of offense, or offenses, the prosecuting attorney has charged you with. I have attached two charts below taken from Sections 28-105 and Section 28-106 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes which list the corresponding penalties for different classifications of misdemeanor and felony offenses in the state of Nebraska. Note that if you are charged in federal court, there are different statutes and different sentencing guidelines. I did not attempt to include any federal sentencing guideline information below, as it is significantly more complicated. Whether you are facing prosecution in state court or federal court, you will definitely want to discuss the range of penalties you are facing with you criminal lawyer, as it can be extremely confusing. The information below is included simply to give you an initial idea of what your possible punishment may be should you plead guilty or be found guilty at trial.
*PLEASE NOTE THAT MANY OF THE FOLLOWING PENALTIES HAVE CHANGED SINCE 2012. READ THE UPDATED LIST OF NEBRASKA FELONY CLASSIFICATIONS AND PENALTIES FOR FELONY OFFENSES IN NEBRASKA.
Misdemeanor – Classification of Penalties
| Class I misdemeanor.……. | Maximum — not more than one year |
| imprisonment, or one thousand dollars | |
| fine, or both | |
| Minimum — none | |
| Class II misdemeanor……. | Maximum — six months imprisonment, or |
| one thousand dollars fine, or both | |
| Minimum — none | |
| Class III misdemeanor…… | Maximum — three months imprisonment, |
| or five hundred dollars fine, or both | |
| Minimum — none | |
| Class IIIA misdemeanor….. | Maximum — seven days imprisonment, five |
| hundred dollars fine, or both | |
| Minimum — none | |
| Class IV misdemeanor……. | Maximum — no imprisonment, five hun- |
| dred dollars fine | |
| Minimum — one hundred dollars fine | |
| Class V misdemeanor…….. | Maximum — no imprisonment, one hun- |
| dred dollars fine | |
| Minimum — none | |
| Class W misdemeanor……. | Driving under the influence or implied |
| consent | |
| First conviction | |
| Maximum — sixty days imprisonment and | |
| five hundred dollars fine | |
| Mandatory minimum — seven days | |
| imprisonment and five hundred dollars | |
| fine | |
| Second conviction | |
| Maximum — six months imprisonment and | |
| five hundred dollars fine | |
| Mandatory minimum — thirty days | |
| imprisonment and five hundred dollars | |
| fine | |
| Third conviction | |
| Maximum — one year imprisonment and | |
| one thousand dollars fine | |
| Mandatory minimum — ninety days | |
| imprisonment | |
| and one thousand dollars fine |
Felony – Classification of Penalties
| Class I felony | Death |
| Class IA felony | Life imprisonment |
| Class IB felony | Maximum — life imprisonment |
| Minimum — twenty years imprisonment | |
| Class IC felony | Maximum — fifty years imprisonment |
| Mandatory minimum — five years imprisonment | |
| Class ID felony | Maximum — fifty years imprisonment |
| Mandatory minimum — three years imprisonment | |
| Class II felony | Maximum — fifty years imprisonment |
| Minimum — one year imprisonment | |
| Class III felony | Maximum — twenty years imprisonment, or |
| twenty-five thousand dollars fine, or both | |
| Minimum — one year imprisonment | |
| Class IIIA felony | Maximum — five years imprisonment, or |
| ten thousand dollars fine, or both | |
| Minimum — none | |
| Class IV felony | Maximum — five years imprisonment, or |
| ten thousand dollars fine, or both | |
| Minimum — none |