13-1801. Officers and employees; action against; defense; payment of judgment; liability insurance.

If any legal action shall be brought against any municipal police officer, constable, county sheriff, deputy sheriff, firefighter, out-of-hospital emergency care provider, or other elected or appointed official of any political subdivision, who is an employee as defined in section 48-115, whether such person is a volunteer or partly paid or fully paid, based upon the negligent error or omission of such person while in the performance of his or her lawful duties, the political subdivision which employs, appoints, or otherwise designates such person an employee as defined in section 48-115 shall defend him or her against such action, and if final judgment is rendered against such person, such political subdivision shall pay such judgment in his or her behalf and shall have no right to restitution from such person.

A political subdivision shall have the right to purchase insurance to indemnify itself in advance against the possibility of such loss under this section, and the insurance company shall have no right of subrogation against the person. This section shall not be construed to permit a political subdivision to pay for a judgment obtained against a person as a result of illegal acts committed by such person.

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Annotations

The clear language of this section limits its scope to the defense of civil actions for damages based upon negligent error or omission on the part of certain public officials and has no application to the defense of criminal charges. Guenzel-Handlos v. County of Lancaster, 265 Neb. 125, 655 N.W.2d 384 (2003).