53-1,121 Law enforcement officer; intoxicated person; removal; civil protective custody; procedure. - Nebraska Statutes

53-1,121. Law enforcement officer; intoxicated person; removal; civil protective custody; procedure.(1) City police, county sheriffs, officers of the Nebraska State Patrol, and any other such law enforcement officer with power to arrest for traffic violations may take a person who is intoxicated and in the judgment of the officer dangerous to himself, herself, or others, or who is otherwise incapacitated, from any public or quasi-public property. An officer removing an intoxicated person from public or quasi-public property shall make a reasonable effort to take such intoxicated person to his or her home or to place such person in any hospital, clinic, alcoholism center, or with a medical doctor as may be necessary to preserve life or to prevent injury. Such effort at placement shall be deemed reasonable if the officer contacts those facilities or doctors which have previously represented a willingness to accept and treat such individuals and which regularly do accept such individuals. If such efforts are unsuccessful or are not feasible, the officer may then place such intoxicated person in civil protective custody, except that civil protective custody shall be used only as long as is necessary to preserve life or to prevent injury, and under no circumstances for longer than twenty-four hours.(2) The placement of such person in civil protective custody shall be recorded at the facility or jail to which he or she is delivered and communicated to his or her family or next of kin, if they can be located, or to such person designated by the person taken into civil protective custody.(3) The law enforcement officer who acts in compliance with this section shall be deemed to be acting in the course of his or her official duty and shall not be criminally or civilly liable for such actions.(4) The taking of an individual into civil protective custody under this section shall not be considered an arrest. No entry or other record shall be made to indicate that the person has been arrested or charged with a crime.(5) For purposes of this section, public property shall mean any public right-of-way, street, highway, alley, park, or other state, county, or municipally owned property.(6) For the purposes of this section, quasi-public property shall mean and include private or publicly owned property utilized for proprietary or business uses which invites patronage by the public or which invites public ingress and egress. SourceLaws 1979, LB 376, § 2; Laws 1981, LB 87, § 1.