Nebraska has many wacky and weird laws on the books, many of which are little-known and don’t come up much in day-to-day life. Here is just one of the odd laws that exist in our state:

Nebraska Revised Statute 42-102: At the time of the marriage the male must be of the age of seventeen years or upward, and the female of the age of seventeen years or upward. No person who is afflicted with a venereal disease shall marry in this state. You can have your marriage annulled if you discover your partner has an STD, the party with the STD is barred from seeking the annulment.

Case: Christensen v. Christensen, 1944

Considering that in 2018 alone, the CDC reported 137 cases of gonorrhea and 788 of chlamydia for people between the ages of 15-19, it is a wonder that anyone is allowed to get married in NE. There was an attempt to get this repealed in 2020, with LB 882 of the 106th Legislature, but it was indefinitely postponed at the end of the session.