The County Sheriff is the chief law enforcement official of the county and is responsible for ensuring that all local, state, and federal laws are followed.
Any candidate for the office of sheriff who does not have a law enforcement officer certificate or diploma issued by the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice shall submit with the candidate filing form required by section 32-607 a standardized letter issued by the director of the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center certifying that the candidate has: (a) Within one calendar year prior to the deadline for filing the candidate filing form, passed a background investigation performed by the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center based on a check of his or her criminal history record information maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation through the Nebraska State Patrol. The candidate who has not passed a background investigation shall apply for the background investigation at least thirty days prior to the filing deadline for the candidate filing form; and (b) Received a minimum combined score on the reading comprehension and English language portions of an adult basic education examination designated by the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center. County officials must be residents of the county when they accept the office but they do not need to be a resident when declaring their candidacy
Filing Requirements
Candidates must submit a partisan candidate filing form, a filing fee of $281 and a Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission C-1 form. A registered voter who was not a candidate in the primary election and who was not registered to vote with a party affiliation on or after March 1st and before the general election in the calendar year of the general election may have his or her name placed on the general election ballot for a partisan office by completing a nominating petition (which would be submitted in lieu of a partisan filing form). They will need to receive a number of valid signatures (registered voters within the specific district in which they are seeking office) equal to 10% of the number of registered voters there and file the completed petition with their respective office before September 4th.