Two bills dealing with alien land ownership restrictions have been introduced in the 2024 Nebraska legislative session.
The first bill is LB1120, introduced by Sen. Brian Hardin (Gering). Whenever land is sold within 10 miles of a military installation (including those in neighboring states), the buyer must sign an affidavit certifying that they are not affiliated with any federally-identified foreign adversary countries or their citizens (China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, etc.). The affidavit must be filed with the county register of deeds in order for the land sale to be officially recorded. If there is no signed affidavit, the land sale does not go through. LB1120 excludes Douglas and Lancaster counties.
LB1301 was introduced by Sen Barry DeKay (Verdel) at the request of Gov. Pillen. LB1301 would establish the Foreign-owned Real Estate National Security Act. LB1301 is a comprehensive revision of Nebraska’s alien land ownership statutes, including giving enforcement responsibilities to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska Attorney General.
Listen to more details about these bills from Dave Aiken, professor and extension agricultural law specialist at Nebraska, on the Feb. 6, 2024, episode of "Nebraska FARMcast”.
