All Roll Calls
Yes: 84 • No: 1
NebraskaLB373109th Legislature 1st and 2nd SessionslegislatureWALLET
Change provisions relating to section lines and vacation or abandonment of public roads
Sponsored By: Ben Hansen
Signed by Governor
Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
City OK and supermajority to close roads
A county cannot vacate a road unless two-thirds of the county board vote for it. If the road is inside the zoning area of a metropolitan, primary, or first class city, that city must approve first. If the road is in a township in a county that runs roads on a township basis, the county must first offer to turn the road over to the township.
Stronger notice for county road closures
The county board may order a road-use study and must keep the report in the county clerk’s permanent records. Before any closure, the board must set a public hearing and clearly describe the road to be closed. The notice must be published once a week for three weeks, and, when possible, mailed at least two weeks before the hearing to adjacent owners and city officials. After a road is vacated, the county must file the vacating resolution with the register of deeds within 30 days.
Unused road land can go to neighbors
If a vacating resolution does not say what happens to the right-of-way, and it is unused for at least 10 straight years, the land reverts to the neighbors. Each side gets half of the former road corridor. This gives nearby owners a clear path to regain the land.
New rules for section-line roads
The law declares section lines as public roads, but counties do not have to open or maintain all of them. A county board can open a section-line road without a preliminary survey when it finds it is for the public good. If you are harmed by such a road, you can seek damages under existing law. Counties must set and record durable survey corner markers and restore any lost corners under state survey rules. A county surveyor, or a licensed land surveyor if the county has no surveyor, must do this work.
Quicker closure for some old roads
The county board can propose closing a road that was declared public under the old section-line law without doing the usual study. This speeds up decisions for those specific roads. Nearby owners lose the study step that can inform the closure decision.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Ben Hansen
legislature
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
legislature vote • 3/20/2025
Final Reading
Yes: 44 • No: 1
legislature vote • 2/21/2025
Vote
Yes: 40 • No: 0 • Other: 9
Actions Timeline
Approved by Governor on March 25, 2025
3/26/2025legislaturePassed on Final Reading 44-1*-4
3/20/2025legislaturePresident/Speaker signed
3/20/2025legislaturePresented to Governor on March 20, 2025
3/20/2025legislaturePlaced on Final Reading
3/17/2025legislatureAdvanced to Enrollment and Review for Engrossment
3/11/2025legislaturePlaced on Select File
2/26/2025legislatureAdvanced to Enrollment and Review Initial
2/21/2025legislaturePlaced on General File
2/7/2025legislatureNotice of hearing for January 29, 2025
1/22/2025legislatureReferred to Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee
1/21/2025legislatureDate of introduction
1/16/2025legislature
Bill Text
Introduced
3/26/2025
Enrolled / Slip Law
Final / Enacted