In a state better known for cornfields and college football than legislative oddities, Nebraska harbors a surprisingly entertaining collection of bizarre laws. While many "weird law" lists circulating online are urban legends, I dove deep into Nebraska's actual statutes and uncovered several genuinely unusual laws that remain legally valid in 2025…plus some historical gems that managed to survive for over a century before finally being repealed.
When love meets the law: Nebraska's STD marriage ban
Let's start with the law that made me do a double-take when I first read it. Buried in Nebraska's marriage statutes is a prohibition that sounds like it belongs in a Victorian-era medical textbook.
The law that could void your vows
Nebraska Revised Statute 42-102 states plainly: "No person who is afflicted with a venereal disease shall marry in this state." Yes, you read that correctly. In 2025, Nebraska technically prohibits anyone with an STD from getting married.
This isn't some dusty relic that everyone forgot about. The law dates back to 1866 but was actually amended as recently as 1978. What's particularly interesting is that the law doesn't automatically void these marriages. Instead, it makes them "voidable," which is legal speak for "can be annulled, but only under certain conditions."
The distinction became clear in the 1944 case Christensen v. Christensen, when a husband sought divorce after claiming his wife gave him an STD. The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that while the marriage was voidable, here's the kicker: the person with the undisclosed STD couldn't seek the annulment themselves. Only the unknowing party could pull that trigger.
Modern attempts to update the law
In 2020, State Senator Matt Hansen tried to drag this law into the 21st century with LB882. His proposal would have replaced the blanket prohibition with something more reasonable: allowing annulment if someone concealed an STD at the time of marriage. The bill was indefinitely postponed, meaning Nebraska's Victorian-era approach to STDs and marriage remains intact.
Richard Leiter, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln law professor, offered me the best explanation for why such outdated laws persist: "Some laws become void by Supreme Court decisions, and state legislatures don't go through the books to clean them up. If you go through any state or county or city laws, you'll find odds and ends that don't make sense."
The good news? There's no evidence of recent enforcement. County clerks aren't asking for medical records with marriage license applications. But technically, if you have an STD and get married in Nebraska, your marriage exists in a legal gray area.
The great donut hole ban of Leigh
Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction, and the story of Leigh, Nebraska's 110-year ban on donut holes proves it.
A hole lot of trouble
From 1887 to 1997, it was illegal to sell donut holes in the village of Leigh, population approximately 400. The village elders who enacted this ban shortly after incorporation believed that selling donut holes constituted "undue profit" from what they considered waste. Apparently, they felt bakers were double-dipping by selling both the donut and the hole separately.
The law sat quietly on the books for over a century, largely forgotten even by village officials. That changed in 1997 when a Lincoln radio DJ discovered the quirky ordinance and planned to do a live broadcast about it. The village board, who weren't even aware the law still existed, decided to repeal it during the radio show. As Village Board Chairman Allen Schroeder told the Columbus Telegram, they did it "to help his story along."
The lasting impact of legal weirdness
Here's where it gets even more interesting. The law's century-long influence had lasting effects on local eating habits. Even after the repeal, donut holes remained rare in Leigh because generations had grown up without them. As of 2003, only 96 donut holes were delivered weekly to the town's single grocery store.
Think about that for a moment. A law passed in 1887 by people worried about bakery profits was still shaping breakfast choices over a century later. If that's not a testament to the lasting power of even the silliest laws, I don't know what is.
Flying under the influence gets you grounded…faster
Most people know about drunk driving laws, but Nebraska takes aerial intoxication particularly seriously.
Nebraska Revised Statutes 28-1465 to 28-1474 set the blood alcohol content limit for aircraft operation at 0.05%, which is stricter than the 0.08% limit for motor vehicles. Now, you might be thinking, "Isn't flying drunk already illegal under federal law?" And you'd be right. Federal aviation regulations already prohibit flying under the influence.
This seemingly redundant law demonstrates Nebraska's belt-and-suspenders approach to aviation safety. It's like wearing both a belt and suspenders…while also stapling your pants to your shirt. Sure, it might be overkill, but you definitely won't lose your pants. Or in this case, you definitely won't have drunk pilots, even if enforcement typically falls under federal jurisdiction rather than state authority.
Grand Island's horse traffic regulations
In an ordinance that perfectly bridges Nebraska's agricultural past with modern urban planning, Grand Island still maintains some interesting rules about four-legged transportation.
Giving the police chief a heads-up
Chapter 20, Section 20-10 of the Grand Island Municipal Code requires anyone wanting to bring horses, mules, oxen, or other draft animals onto certain city streets to notify the police chief at least 12 hours in advance. The restricted streets include:
- State Street
- The entire Central Business District
- Major thoroughfares throughout the city
Jerry Janulewicz, Grand Island's city attorney, defends keeping such ordinances on the books. As he told Nebraska TV, "One can question, why is that still on the books? On the other hand, if you look at what it's prohibiting or aimed at, it's probably not a bad thing."
He has a point. The law likely serves practical purposes during parades, historical reenactments, or when Amish visitors bring horse-drawn vehicles to town. It's one of those laws that seems silly until you're stuck behind an unexpected ox cart during rush hour.
The ugly truth about "ugly laws"
Now we need to talk about one of the darkest chapters in Nebraska's legislative history. These laws aren't funny or quirky…they're a sobering reminder of how legislation can be used to marginalize vulnerable populations.
Lincoln and Omaha's shameful ordinances
In 1889, Lincoln enacted what was known as an "unsightly beggar ordinance." The law imposed a $1 fine on "any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object" who appeared in public spaces. Omaha had a similar ordinance from 1881 to 1890.
These laws were part of a national movement that began in San Francisco in 1867. They reflected Progressive Era efforts to control urban spaces and remove "undesirable" populations from public view. The Nebraska State Historical Society notes that these laws primarily targeted disabled and poor people, particularly those who begged.
The last arrest
Omaha holds the dubious distinction of hosting America's last recorded "ugly law" arrest in 1974. Police arrested a homeless man with visible scars under the ordinance, even though it had been officially repealed in 1967. The judge and prosecutors refused to press charges, noting the impossibility of legally defining "ugly."
Lincoln repealed its ugly law by 1989. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 definitively superseded any remaining such laws, ensuring that this particular brand of discrimination stays in the past where it belongs.
Separating fact from fiction
Before we go any further, let's clear up some persistent myths about Nebraska laws.
The whale fishing myth
One of the most widespread claims is that Nebraska has a law prohibiting whale fishing. Daryl Bauer, Nebraska Game and Parks Fishery Program Manager, explicitly debunked this: "Not true…it's a myth." Despite Nebraska being about as far from whale habitat as you can get in North America, there's no actual law on the books about whale fishing.
Other common myths that need debunking:
- Bar owners required to brew soup while selling beer
- Mothers needing special licenses for perms
- Barbers prohibited from eating onions between certain hours
- Sneezing in public being illegal
The Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog notes that weird law lists often contain "misunderstandings, exaggerations or outright fabrications." Many supposed laws are misinterpretations of broader regulations. That "mother-daughter perm law"? Probably just a garbled version of general cosmetology licensing requirements.
Why obsolete laws stick around
You might wonder why legislatures don't just clean up these old laws. It turns out there are several reasons why legal oddities persist.
The formal process exists…in theory
Nebraska actually maintains a formal process for identifying and removing obsolete laws. Nebraska Revised Statute 49-771 requires the Revisor of Statutes to establish "an ongoing and comprehensive system" to identify obsolete statutes and draft legislation for their repeal.
But as Dave Ptak, Hastings city attorney, explained, there are practical challenges: "We have other things to do other than just simply go through the code. It's not a lot of fun sitting there reading city code sections."
Jerry Janulewicz adds that hiring specialized firms for comprehensive code review is "expensive." Grand Island's last complete recodification happened in 2002. When you're dealing with limited budgets and pressing current issues, spending money to remove laws nobody enforces anyway doesn't top the priority list.
Small town dynamics
Professor Leiter offers another perspective on why small towns might have unusual ordinances. He points out that a tiny town in western Nebraska with 27 people can elect a city council and "pass laws on anything." They could make their city a nuclear-free zone if they wanted. Sometimes these laws are tongue-in-cheek or written to make a political statement.
This explains why you'll find more quirky ordinances in small towns than in larger cities. When everyone knows everyone, passing a silly law might be the town council's idea of a good joke. The problem is that the joke stays on the books long after everyone's forgotten why it was funny.
The verdict on Nebraska's weird laws
After diving deep into Nebraska's legal code, here's what I've learned about the state's unusual laws:
The genuinely weird laws that remain on the books are mostly historical artifacts rather than active legal constraints. The STD marriage restriction stands as the most significant verified unusual law still technically valid, though it faces no active enforcement. Municipal ordinances like Grand Island's horse notification requirement actually serve practical purposes despite seeming anachronistic.
Meanwhile, historical curiosities like Leigh's donut hole ban remind us how economic and social attitudes of past eras created laws that seem absurd through modern eyes. They're like legislative time capsules, preserving the concerns and prejudices of their time.
Most importantly, the prevalence of urban legends masquerading as real laws highlights the importance of verification. For every genuine odd law, there are ten myths circulating on social media. The strangest thing about many "weird laws" is that people believe they exist at all.
Nebraska's formal processes for law review, combined with practical enforcement realities, ensure that while unusual laws may linger on the books, they rarely impact modern Nebraskans' daily lives. Unless, of course, you're planning to ride your ox down State Street in Grand Island without proper notice. In that case, you'd better call the police chief twelve hours ahead of time. Some laws, weird or not, are worth following just to keep the peace.
