Nebraska legislators dial in on domestic violence: Bills introduced to strengthen protection orders, increase funding

Bill introduction in the Nebraska Legislature wrapped up on Wednesday, and lawmakers from across the political spectrum introduced bills to address a trend of deadly domestic violence incidents across the state.

The proposals include harsher penalties for repeat convictions for domestic assault and protection order violations, and a multi-million dollar tax credit program that would address a funding shortfall for domestic violence service organizations.

State Sens. Carolyn Bosn, Jason Prokop, Victor Rountree, Tanya Storer, Beau Ballard, Bob Hallstrom, Eliot Bostar and Jane Raybould spoke at a press conference Wednesday alongside the Nebraska Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence to discuss the bills. Christon MacTaggart, the director of the Nebraska Coalition, said she’s hopeful that bipartisan support will help get the package of bills through the Legislature.

"We know that domestic violence thrives in silence, and also in the gaps in how we respond,” MacTaggart said. “The legislation highlighted today will hopefully respond to the realities of what those victims are experiencing, and address those gaps through prevention, accountability and victim support.”

The bills come at a critical time for domestic violence in Nebraska. According to data presented by the Coalition, more than 13,000 Nebraskans received services from domestic violence service organizations across the state in 2025. That includes 39,585 nights of shelter for 1,799 people and their children. In 2025 alone, there were 30 deaths attributed to domestic violence in Nebraska, including 11 murder-suicides.

“This is a larger issue than any one of us or any one bill,” MacTaggart said.

Funding fix

Nebraska’s domestic violence service organizations have faced decreased federal funding in recent years, and state attempts to allocate more money have repeatedly run into roadblocks. Most recently, in 2025, the Legislature allocated $6 million over two fiscal years to the organizations from the state’s Medicaid Managed Care Excess Profit Fund. The fund was overallocated, and it remained unclear for months if any of the money would be dispersed.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services announced earlier this month that it identified enough money in the fund to at least support the $3 million for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. But it also warned lawmakers that relying on the fund to pay for domestic violence services isn’t sustainable long term, and urged them to identify alternative funding sources.

Bostar’s bill, dubbed the Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking Service Providers Tax Credit Act, is an attempt at identifying that alternate funding source. It would establish nearly $6 million in refundable income tax credits for domestic violence service organizations that could then be sold to other taxpayers.

To recoup the money spent on the tax credits, the bill proposes repealing a tax break currently afforded to data centers. Data center operators are exempt from taxes on “tangible personal property” – like machinery and equipment. Exemptions from this tax are a common incentive that states offer to attract data center development.

“When you have a very limited fiscal position for the state, you have budget deficits, you really need to work at finding the absolute most efficient way of using the funds and resources that are available,” Bostar said. “I think that the industry, the data center industry, is healthy enough and perfectly capable of developing without these particular tax benefits, and the use of these funds would be far more beneficial to Nebraskans if we were to dedicate them to the victims of trafficking and domestic violence.”

Enhanced penalties

A bill introduced by Prokop would strengthen penalties for people repeatedly convicted of violating a protection order. Currently, a first offense protection order violation is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, and any subsequent offense is a Class IV felony punishable by up to two years in prison.

Prokop’s bill would keep the sentencing scheme for first and second offenses, but would adjust penalties for additional violations. A third offense would be a Class IIIA felony, with a maximum sentence of three years in prison, and a fourth or subsequent offense would be a Class IIA felony with a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Storer introduced a similar bill that would revise the sentencing guidelines for repeat domestic abuse convictions. It would move the penalties for first- and second-degree domestic assault up one step in felony classification, which would significantly increase potential prison time.

It would also enhance penalties for repeat offenses, including for misdemeanor domestic assault cases. For example, under the bill, a second and subsequent misdemeanor domestic assault conviction would be a felony with a maximum of 20 years in prison. Currently, repeat misdemeanor domestic assault convictions carry a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

Storer said the bill would bring domestic assault penalties in line with general assaults.

“Currently, if you’re charged with domestic assault, you are going to face less consequential penalties than if it’s an assault,” Storer said. “I just don’t think that sends the right message.

Strengthening protection orders

Raybould introduced a bill that would require people who are the subject of a protection order to relinquish their firearms.

As Nebraska Public Media reported last year, judges can prohibit the subject of a protection order from purchasing or possessing a firearm, but there is no enforcement mechanism to allow law enforcement to confiscate and store the firearms. Instead, it is up to the subject of the order to voluntarily comply.

Though Raybould's bill would not empower law enforcement to confiscate firearms, it would require the subject of a protection order to submit an affidavit to the court stating where their firearms are stored within 48 hours of the protection order being granted. If the subject did not fill out the affidavit or was untruthful, they could be found in contempt of court.

Raybould said people would have three options for surrendering their firearms: They could pay a storage fee to a licensed firearms dealer, leave the firearms with a court-approved family member or other third party, or, in smaller jurisdictions, turn firearms in to law enforcement. While law enforcement agencies in Lincoln and Omaha don’t have the storage capacity to hold firearms for years, that could be an option in other parts of Nebraska.

Raybould’s proposal would also enact a seven-year prohibition on firearm possession for people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses.

Another proposal related to protection orders is Hallstrom’s Immediate Protection from Abuse Act, which would allow law enforcement to issue an immediate temporary protection order on behalf of a victim after the alleged perpetrator is arrested for domestic violence or sexual assault. The order would last for three days after issuance, and could be renewed.

“The reason that this bill matters is that the hours after an assault takes place are the most significant to the victim or the abused, and this will provide another tool for law enforcement to act early and act strongly in protecting victims,” Hallstrom said.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated Raybould's protection order proposal. It would not allow law enforcement to confiscate firearms from people who are subject to protection orders.