Every deadline, width and penalty here was read on September 23, 2026, off the city's own page or the municipal code that city hosts, and each one is quoted and linked beside the line it supports. Cities amend these ordinances between winters and several publish the deadline on a seasonal page that changes in autumn, so the link beside a line is what governs on the day.

Nebraska Sidewalk Snow Removal: 8 to 24 Hours

Q: Does snow have to be cleared from the sidewalk or the street in Nebraska?

The rules collected here are sidewalk rules, and the great majority of Nebraska cities publish a second one about where the snow may go once it has been moved, most often forbidding it on the travelled part of the road. Both come off the same city pages linked below, and the Nebraska cities that publish only the second are listed as such rather than folded in with the rest.

Q: Which cities in the country give you the least time?

St. Louis, Santa Fe, Sheridan, where the ordinance allows no hours at all. Above them, 57 of the 150 cities that count in hours give twelve hours or less, 74 give exactly a day, and 18 give more than a day. The widest gap inside a single state is Maine, from four hours to three days.

Nothing

What state law sets

37 states are in the same position

8 to 24h

The range across its cities

[object Object] is the tightest

7 of 7

Cities with an ordinance

6 clear it themselves and bill

September 23, 2026

Read

5 publish a penalty

The short answer

Nebraska runs from eight hours in Fremont to a day in Omaha

Nebraska has no sidewalk clearing statute at all. The clock is a city's instead, and six Nebraska cities count in hours. The tightest is Fremont at eight hours and the loosest Omaha at a day, a gap of 16 hours inside one state. Nationally the deadlines run from no hours at all to three days across 150 cities, and no state legislature anywhere has put a number on it.

The city named on each line below is the one that publishes the rule and the one that answers questions about it. 53 cities nationally also publish a page for reporting a walk that has not been cleared.

Nothing at state level7 of 7 cities with an ordinance6 counting in hours6 clear it themselves

City by city, in each city’s own words

The 7 Nebraska cities that publish an ordinance

Six Nebraska cities publish a count of hours, and each one below is quoted from the ordinance or the city page it was read from. A day is the commonest figure in Nebraska as it is nationally: 74 of the 150 cities that count in hours land on exactly that.

Each card below carries what that city published and nothing else: the deadline in its own sentence, the sentence it was read from, and the width, the penalty and the wording about ice where the city printed them. The chip is a band derived from the wording for sorting, not a restatement of it.

Fremont
7h to 12h
within eight (8) hours after the cessation of any storm, or before 10:00 a.m. the following day where the snow fell in the nighttime
Such sidewalk shall be cleaned within eight (8) hours after the cessation of any storm, unless the storm or fall of snow shall have taken place in the nighttime, in which case the sidewalk shall be cleaned before 10:00 a.m. the following day.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
any occupant of any lot or the owner, any vacant lot
What it says about ice
to permit any hard trodden snow, ice or mud to remain upon such sidewalk
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Sec. 8-602
- Published by City of Fremont
Sec. 8-602. Obstructions; sidewalks kept clean, Fremont Code of Ordinances, read September 23, 2026
Beatrice
13h to 24h
no less than twenty-four (24) hours after any occurrence of snowfall, sleet, or freezing rain has ended
This includes clearing and keeping clear such sidewalks, as well as any sidewalk ramps connecting such sidewalk to the street, from snow and ice no less than twenty-four (24) hours after any occurrence of snowfall, sleet, or freezing rain has ended.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
Every owner, occupant, lessee, person entitled to possession, or person having charge of any house, building, or vacant lot
What it says about ice
If snow and ice cannot be sufficiently removed to allow safe pedestrian travel by means of scooping, sweeping, or snow-blowing, the snow and ice remaining shall be covered with gravel, salt, or sand.
- Penalty a misdemeanor, the minimum fine for which shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00)
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Sec. 23-67
- Published by Beatrice Board of Public Works
Sec. 23-67. Clear sidewalks, duty of property owners/occupants, Beatrice Code of Ordinances, read September 23, 2026
Grand Island
13h to 24h
within twenty-four hours after the cessation of any storm or snow fall, and within six hours in the Central Business District
It shall be unlawful for the occupant or owner of any lot, tract, or parcel of real estate within the City to fail to clear or have cleared the sidewalks contiguous thereto of all snow and ice within twenty-four hours after the cessation of any storm or snow fall; provided, that if such lot, tract, or parcel of real estate is located within the Central Business District of the City of Grand Island, then it shall be unlawful for the occupant owner of such lot, tract, or parcel of real estate to fail to clear the sidewalks contiguous thereto of all snow and ice within six hours after the cessation of any storm or snow fall, or by 12:00 Noon should the cessation of any storm or snow fall occur during night-time hours.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the occupant or owner of any lot, tract, or parcel of real estate within the City
What it says about ice
It shall be unlawful for the occupant or owner of any lot, tract, or parcel of real estate within the City to fail to clear or have cleared the sidewalks contiguous thereto of all ice accumulated from natural or artificial drainage of water within twenty-four hours after the commencement of accumulation
- Penalty a fine of not less than one dollar nor more than five hundred dollars for each offense
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section 32-73
- Published by City of Grand Island
32-73 Snow And Ice Removal From Sidewalks, Grand Island, NE Code of Ordinances, read September 23, 2026
Hastings
13h to 24h
within 24 hours after the cessation of the storm or snowfall
Such sidewalk shall be cleaned within 24 hours after the cessation of the storm or snowfall. In the event of a declared snow emergency, sidewalks shall be cleaned with 24 hours from when the snow emergency is cancelled.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the occupant of any lot or the owner of any vacant lot within the city
What it says about ice
to permit any hard-trodden snow, sleet, or ice to remain upon the sidewalk
- Penalty a fine not exceeding $500.00, plus costs
- Section Sec. 44-211
- Published by City of Hastings
Sec. 44-211. Removal of snow, sleet, or ice, Hastings Code of Ordinances, read September 23, 2026
Kearney
13h to 24h
in excess of twenty-four (24) hours after the cessation of a storm
It shall be unlawful for the occupant of any lot or the owner of any vacant lot within the City to suffer or permit snow, sleet, mud, ice, slush or other substance to accumulate and remain on the abutting sidewalk for a period of time in excess of twenty-four (24) hours after the cessation of a storm.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the occupant of any lot or the owner of any vacant lot within the City
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section 9-1216
- Published by City of Kearney
9-1216 Cleaning Snow, Mud, Etc., From Sidewalks, Kearney Code of Ordinances, read September 23, 2026
Omaha
13h to 24h
within 24 hours after the city has declared that snow removal operations on the city's major streets are complete
It shall be the duty of the occupant, as well as the duty of the owner, of any lot or land or real estate in the city to clear all ice and snow from the sidewalks adjoining the said lot, land, or real estate within 24 hours after the city has declared that snow removal operations on the city's major streets are complete.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
the occupant, as well as the duty of the owner, of any lot or land or real estate in the city
- Width a clear area at least four feet in width on the sidewalk
- Penalty a fine of not exceeding $500.00, or by imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Sec. 34-332
- Published by Omaha Public Works Department
Sec. 34-332. Duty to remove snow and ice accumulations and other obstructions, Omaha Municipal Code, read September 23, 2026
Lincoln
By the clock
before 9:00 a.m. the morning subsequent to the cessation of any snow storm
Every owner or occupant of any house or other building, or the owner or proprietor, lessee, or person entitled to the possession of any vacant lot, and any person having charge of any church, jail, or public hall, or public building in the City shall, during the winter season and during the time snow shall continue on the ground, before 9:00 a.m. the morning subsequent to the cessation of any snow storm, clear the sidewalks in front of such lots from snow and ice and keep such sidewalks free from snow and ice during the day
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
Every owner or occupant of any house or other building, or the owner or proprietor, lessee, or person entitled to the possession of any vacant lot, and any person having charge of any church, jail, or public hall, or public building in the City
What it says about ice
in case the snow and ice are so congealed that they cannot be removed without injury to the sidewalk, shall apply sand or approved de-icing agent in sufficient quantities to cause said walk to be safe for pedestrian traffic
- Penalty a misdemeanor, fined in any sum not to exceed $100.00
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section 14.80.110
- Published by Lincoln Transportation and Utilities
14.80.110 Snow and Ice Removal, Lincoln Municipal Code, read September 23, 2026

Why one Nebraska answer does not exist

Fremont and Omaha are 16 hours apart

A house on one side of a city line in Nebraska has eight hours and a house on the other has a day, which is the whole reason a state level answer to this question is no answer. 23 states carry a gap like it, the widest being Maine at 68 hours.

Neither city is wrong and neither is unusual. A sidewalk ordinance is written by a council for the street outside its own window, and nothing above it in Nebraska obliges one council to look at what the next one wrote. The figure that applies to a reader is the one their own city published, which is why every card above carries the city’s name before it carries a number.

A sidewalk cleared earlier in the day with fresh wind blown snow already lying back across the outer half of it, a plowed road to one side and an unbroken snow field to the other — Almost every hour count on these pages runs from the end of the snowfall rather than from its start, which is the one drafting choice the ordinances broadly share. What counts as the end of it, and what a fresh drift across a cleared walk does to the clock, is left to the wording each city chose, and that wording is quoted in full on the state pages. “Snow drifting onto a shoveled sidewalk, Ewing Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, 2024-01-20”, Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0

What Nebraska itself did

Nebraska has written nothing on this

Nothing in the Nebraska statutes was found setting a sidewalk clearing deadline, which leaves the question to the cities below.

That is the national pattern rather than a Nebraska quirk. 13 of the 50 legislatures have a statute that touches sidewalk snow at all, 10 of those do nothing but let a city decide, and not one of them sets a deadline. The clock is a municipal ordinance everywhere in the country.

Nothing at state level

No Nebraska statute was found on this

has no sidewalk clearing statute at all

What happens if it is not done

A bill or a penalty, depending on the Nebraska city

Six Nebraska cities publish a rule letting the city clear the walk and put the cost on the property. That is the commoner enforcement route nationally: 102 of the 187 cities with an ordinance carry one, against 105 that publish a penalty.

Five Nebraska cities print a penalty beside the rule, four of them as a dollar figure and the rest as the class of offence the ordinance creates. Each is reproduced below in the words its own ordinance used.

Both routes are printed on the cards above in the sentence each was read from, because a penalty clause paraphrased is a different statement than the one the city made. Where a city publishes a page for reporting a walk that has not been cleared, that link is on its card too.

How Nebraska compares

The same question in the other forty nine

150 cities nationally count in hours, and the counts run from no hours at all to 72. 74 land on exactly a day, 57 give twelve hours or less, and 18 give more than a day. A further 22 set a time of day or a depth of snow rather than a count of hours at all.

The bar splits those 150 cities by how long they allow, and the table beneath it orders the states by how tight their tightest city is, which is a different ranking from how much snow a state gets.

3 of 150No hours allowed
23 of 150Six hours or less
31 of 150Within twelve hours
75 of 150Within a day
18 of 150More than a day

Fifty states and 267 cities, read September 23, 2026.
State	What the legislature did	What its cities do	With an ordinance	Tightest city
Missouri	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	ImmediatelySt. Louis
Wyoming	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 3	ImmediatelySheridan
New Mexico	A cross reference	Cities count in hours	1 of 4	ImmediatelySanta Fe
Michigan	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	2hMarquette
Maryland	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	3hAnnapolis
Massachusetts	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	3hBoston
Pennsylvania	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	3hErie
Virginia	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 7	3hRoanoke
Connecticut	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	4hDanbury
Ohio	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	4hAthens
New York	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	4hNew York City
Maine	A city may	Cities count in hours	4 of 8	4hWaterville
Vermont	A city may	Cities count in hours	1 of 6	4hWinooski
Rhode Island	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	5hNewport
Indiana	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	6hWest Lafayette
Nebraska	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	8hFremont
New Jersey	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	8hJersey City
Utah	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	8hPark City
Iowa	Owner duty, no clock	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	10hAmes
Kansas	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	12hSalina
Delaware	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	12hMilford
Washington	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 4	12hSeattle
California	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	1 of 2	12hSouth Lake Tahoe
North Dakota	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	24hBismarck
Wisconsin	The city clears it	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	24hGreen Bay
Colorado	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hAurora
Illinois	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hChampaign
Minnesota	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hDuluth
Montana	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	24hBillings
South Dakota	A city may	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	24hWatertown
Oklahoma	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 7	24hTulsa
West Virginia	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 4	24hMorgantown
Alaska	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 3	24hSeward
Idaho	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 3	24hIdaho Falls
Texas	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 7	24hAmarillo
Arizona	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	1 of 5	24hFlagstaff
Oregon	Nothing at state level	Required, no time named	2 of 3	None published
Arkansas	Nothing at state level	Set by the clock or a depth	1 of 7	None published
Kentucky	Nothing at state level	Set by the clock or a depth	1 of 3	None published
Tennessee	Nothing at state level	Required, no time named	1 of 4	None published
Alabama	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Florida	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Georgia	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Hawaii	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 2	None published
Louisiana	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 6	None published
Mississippi	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Nevada	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
New Hampshire	A city may	No city rule found	0 of 7	None published
North Carolina	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 4	None published
South Carolina	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published

Nebraska sidewalk snow removal questions

How long do you have to shovel your sidewalk in Nebraska?

Nebraska has no sidewalk clearing statute at all. The clock is a city's instead, and six Nebraska cities count in hours. The tightest is Fremont at eight hours and the loosest Omaha at a day, a gap of 16 hours inside one state. Nationally the deadlines run from no hours at all to three days across 150 cities, and no state legislature anywhere has put a number on it. Six Nebraska cities publish a count of hours, and each one below is quoted from the ordinance or the city page it was read from. A day is the commonest figure in Nebraska as it is nationally: 74 of the 150 cities that count in hours land on exactly that.

Does Nebraska have a state law about clearing sidewalks?

Why do two Nebraska cities give different deadlines?

A house on one side of a city line in Nebraska has eight hours and a house on the other has a day, which is the whole reason a state level answer to this question is no answer. 23 states carry a gap like it, the widest being Maine at 68 hours. Fremont writes: “Such sidewalk shall be cleaned within eight (8) hours after the cessation of any storm, unless the storm or fall of snow shall have taken place in the nighttime, in which case the sidewalk shall be cleaned before 10:00 a.m. the following day.”

Will the city clear my sidewalk in Nebraska?

Six Nebraska cities publish a rule letting the city clear the walk and put the cost on the property. That is the commoner enforcement route nationally: 102 of the 187 cities with an ordinance carry one, against 105 that publish a penalty. Fremont sets it out this way: “if such person shall not within three (3) hours comply with such notice, the Police Department shall thereupon issue a citation and if convicted, such violator shall be fined as provided in Article 8, and further, in case of such neglect or refusal, the Police Department shall forthwith abate the same at the expense of the person chargeable therewith, to be collected before any court of competent jurisdiction”

What is the fine for not shovelling a sidewalk in Nebraska?

Five Nebraska cities print a penalty beside the rule, four of them as a dollar figure and the rest as the class of offence the ordinance creates. Each is reproduced below in the words its own ordinance used. Beatrice prints a misdemeanor, the minimum fine for which shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00): “If issued a criminal citation for noncompliance with this section, the violation shall be deemed a misdemeanor, the minimum fine for which shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00). Each day that a violation of any of the provisions of this section continues shall constitute a distinct offense and shall be punishable as such.”

Does snow have to be cleared from the sidewalk or the street in Nebraska?

Which cities in the country give you the least time?

How current is this?

Sidewalk snow removal rules in every state

Nebraska ice damsWhat builds at the eaves while the walk is being cleared, and the conditions that put it there.Nebraska ground snow loadThe other winter number a city sets and the state usually does not, and who publishes it where.Nebraska snowpackWhat is actually on the ground this winter, measured daily, against the years behind it.Nebraska frozen pipesThe other thing a long cold spell does to a building, and the temperatures it starts at.

Nebraska read September 23, 2026: the municipal code and the city published pages of the 7 cities above. Every deadline, width, penalty and duty above links to the document it was published in and is reproduced in that document’s own wording. An hour count on this site is a sorting key derived from a city’s sentence and never a replacement for it. Councils amend ordinances on their own schedule, so the section linked beside a line is what governs on the day. What a particular property owes, and to whom, is a question for the city that published the ordinance.