State v. Jensen, 910 N.W.2d 155

Victor Jensen was convicted in county court in 2014, received jail time, $3,000 in fines, $39.85 in court costs, 24 months’ probation, and $600 in probation fees.
Jensen had been permitted to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) at various times between 2012 and 2015; those filings and orders were submitted as exhibits.
In May 2016 Jensen moved in county court requesting payment/waiver of probation fees and $39.85 in court costs; hearings were held in Dec 2016 and Jan 2017.
The county court denied Jensen’s requests, concluding the court costs likely were not covered by the prior IFP order and denying waiver of probation fees.
On appeal to the district court, Jensen relied on earlier IFP orders (2012–2015); he produced no financial affidavit or other evidence showing his financial status at the time of the Dec 2016/Jan 2017 hearings.
The district court affirmed the county court’s denial; the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed, holding the record was inadequate to show indigency at the relevant time or that waiver was required.

Issue	Jensen's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the county should waive or pay probation fees	Jensen argued prior IFP findings show indigency and require waiver	County argued Jensen offered no current evidence of indigency at time of hearing	Denied — Jensen failed to present evidence of indigency at the time of the hearings, so waiver not required
Whether the county should waive or pay $39.85 in court costs	Jensen argued prior IFP status means county must pay/waive those costs	County argued costs likely were not included in earlier IFP order and Jensen offered no proof otherwise	Denied — record does not show county court erred in concluding costs were not covered by prior IFP order
Whether the district court erred by using Jan 24, 2017 date to assess indigency	Jensen contended the court improperly relied on that date	State noted the district court’s review is limited to the county court record as of the county court’s order date	Rejected — district court properly reviewed the record as of the county court’s January 24, 2017 order
Whether stale IFP affidavits suffice to show current indigency	Jensen relied on IFP affidavits from 2012–2015	State argued financial affidavits must reflect current status; stale affidavits insufficient	Held — earlier IFP affidavits were too old to demonstrate indigency at the time of the 2016–2017 hearings

State v. Todd, 296 Neb. 424 (Neb. 2017) (discussing standard of review for county-court criminal appeals)
State v. Lester, 295 Neb. 878 (Neb. 2017) (appellant’s duty to present an adequate record for appellate review)