(1) A person commits arson in the second degree if he or she intentionally damages a building or property contained within a building by starting a fire or causing an explosion or if a fire is started or an explosion is caused in the perpetration of any robbery, burglary, or felony criminal mischief. (2) The following affirmative defenses may be introduced into evidence upon prosecution for a violation of this section: (a) No person other than the accused has a security or proprietary interest in the damaged building, or, if other persons have such interests, all of them consented to his or her conduct; or (b) The accused's sole intent was to destroy or damage the building for a lawful and proper purpose. (3) Arson in the second degree is a Class III felony.
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-503
Arson, second degree; penalty
Applied in 14 court decisions — leading case State v. Jacobs (1987)
Most recently applied in 29 Neb. Ct. App. 881 - State v. Sailors (May 2021)
Laws 1977, LB 38, § 102; Laws 1981, LB 83, § 2; Laws 2010, LB712, § 9.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Nebraska Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Nebraska statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.