Domestic Abuse Laws
Nebraska
2001

Note: This page features auto-scrolling links by statute.

Nabraska Statutes:

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§ 42-901. Act, how cited.

Sections 42-901 to 42-931 shall be known and may be cited as the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act.

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§ 42-902. Legislative intent.

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that there is a present and growing need to develop services which will lessen and reduce the trauma of domestic abuse. It is the intent of the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act to provide abused family and household members necessary services including shelter, counseling, social services, and limited medical care and legal assistance.

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§ 42-903. Terms, defined.

For purposes of the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Abuse means the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between household members:

(a) Attempting to cause or intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury with or without a deadly weapon; or

(b) Placing, by physical menace, another in fear of imminent bodily injury;

(2) Department means the Department of Health and Human Services;

(3) Family or household members includes spouses or former spouses, children, persons who are presently residing together or who have resided together in the past, persons who have a child in common whether or not they have been married or have lived together at any time, and other persons related by consanguinity or affinity; and

(4) Law enforcement agency means the police department or town marshal in incorporated municipalities and the office of the sheriff in unincorporated areas.

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§ 42-904. Department; programs and services; duties.

The department shall establish and maintain comprehensive support services to aid victims of domestic abuse and to provide prevention and treatment programs to aid victims of domestic abuse, their families, and abusers.

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§ 42-905. Comprehensive support services; enumerated.

The comprehensive support services shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) Emergency services for victims of abuse and their families;

(2) Support programs that meet specific needs of victims of abuse and their families;

(3) Education, counseling, and supportive programs for the abuser;

(4) Programs to aid in the prevention and elimination of domestic violence which shall include education and public awareness; and

(5) Assistance in completing the standard petition and affidavit forms for persons who file a petition and affidavit for a protection order.

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§ 42-906. Support services; to whom provided.

The department shall provide the support services as provided in section 42-905 to any person who seeks such services.

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§ 42-907. Emergency services; enumerated.

The department shall provide emergency services which shall consist of up to seventy-two hours of crisis intervention services including:

(1) Constant access and intake to services;

(2) Immediate transportation from a victim's home or other location to a hospital ora place of safety;

(3) Immediate medical services or first aid;

(4) Emergency legal counseling and referral;

(5) Crisis counseling to provide support and assurance of safety;

(6) Emergency financial aid; and

(7) Safe living environments that will provide a supportive, nonthreatening shelter to victims, their families, and household members.

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§ 42-908. Department; victim; diagnostic assessment; referral; followup.

The department shall, as soon as possible after initial contact with the victim, determine through diagnostic assessment which programs are needed and desired by the victim and family members. The department shall make appropriate referral and conduct appropriate followup. The department shall, to the extent possible, use private sources to provide the support services.

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§ 42-909. Department; victim; provide support services; plan of action.

The department shall, in addition to the emergency services, provide support services as needed to a victim of domestic abuse for up to thirty days. The support services shall be problem oriented and formulate a plan of action for the victim. Such services may include relocation, financial security, employment, advocacy, assertiveness training, substance abuse counseling, and alternatives to returning to the abuser. Also, the department shall provide services for children including day care, education, and counseling.

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§ 42-910. Department; services for children; enumerated.

The department shall provide services for children which may include:

(1) Emergency services which provide housing, food, clothing, and transportation to school;

(2) Counseling for trauma which occurs when children witness or experience family violence;

(3) Programs which provide for the appropriate educational needs of the individual child; and

(4) Services for child care in the necessary absence of the victim parent.

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§ 42-911. Department; victims; provide resource information.

The department shall provide complete resource information for victims and their families on legal, medical, financial, vocational, welfare, child care, housing, and other support services.

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§ 42-912. Department; develop client feedback; collect statistical data.

The department shall develop a means of client feedback and collect statistical data to assist it in evaluating program effectiveness.

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§ 42-913. Department; person who commits domestic abuse; programs and services.

The department shall provide such programs and services as it deems appropriate for the person who commits domestic abuse.

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§ 42-914. Department; domestic violence; develop educational curriculum.

The department shall develop, in cooperation with the State Department of Education, a kindergarten through postsecondary educational curriculum relating to domestic violence.

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§ 42-915. Department; families; develop community support systems.

The department shall assist in developing community support systems for families to aid in the deterrence of all family crisis situations.

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§ 42-916. Department; family program; prevent generational continuation of abuse.

The department shall provide a family program, especially for children, to prevent the generational continuation of abuse within the family.

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§ 42-917. Delivery of services; cooperation; coordination of programs.

The delivery of all services provided for under the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act shall be done in cooperation with existing public, private, state, and local programs whenever possible to avoid duplication of services. Special effort shall be taken to coordinate programs with the Department of Labor, the Nebraska Commission on the Status of Women, the State Department of Education, the Division of Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, and Addiction Services of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Health and Human Services Regulation and Licensure, the Department of Health and Human Services Finance and Support, other appropriate agencies, community service agencies, and private sources.

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§ 42-918. Contact with victims of spouse abuse and families; confidentiality; violation; penalty.

Under the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act, strict confidence shall be observed in all contact with victims of spouse abuse and their families. Any record, report, or files maintained by the department pursuant to the act shall be confidential, except that the department may release statistical information, while not revealing names. Violation of this section shall be a Class V misdemeanor.

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§ 42-919. Programs; administered independent of welfare assistance programs.

All programs under the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act shall be separate and administered independent of any welfare assistance program.

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§ 42-920. Department; contract for services.

The department may construct, lease, purchase, purchase on contract, utilize vendor payment, and contract for services connected with the operation of the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act as needs and interest demand.

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§ 42-921. Department; power to accept gifts, grants, devises, and bequests; use.

The department may accept gifts, grants, devises, and bequests of real and personal property from public or private sources to carry out the purposes of the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act. The department may sell, lease, exchange, invest, or expend such gifts, grants, devises, and bequests or the proceeds, rents, profits, and income therefrom according to the terms and conditions thereof.

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§ 42-922. Department; adopt rules and regulations.

The department shall adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations and perform all other acts as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act. Such rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, rules and regulations relating to fees charged, training of personnel, and administration of the program.

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§ 42-923. Department; determine ability to pay for services; uniform fee schedule; reduced or waived; when.

The department shall determine the ability of the spouses or individuals to pay for services but shall not charge more than the actual cost. The department shall prepare and adopt a uniform fee schedule to be used. The scheduled fees may be reduced or waived by authorization of the department according to the rules of the department and as may be considered necessary to further the objective of the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act. The use of facilities and services established by the act shall not be denied residents of Nebraska because of inability to pay scheduled fees. Any fees received under this section shall be deposited in the General Fund.

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§ 42-924. Protection order; when authorized; term; violation; penalty; construction of sections.

(1) Any victim of domestic abuse may file a petition and affidavit for a protection order as provided in subsection (2) of this section. Upon the filing of such a petition and affidavit in support thereof, the judge or court may issue a protection order without bond granting the following relief:

(a) Enjoining the respondent from imposing any restraint upon the petitioner or upon the liberty of the petitioner;

(b) Enjoining the respondent from threatening, assaulting, molesting, attacking, or otherwise disturbing the peace of the petitioner;

(c) Enjoining the respondent from telephoning, contacting, or otherwise communicating with the petitioner;

(d) Removing and excluding the respondent from the residence of the petitioner, regardless of the ownership of the residence;

(e) Ordering the respondent to stay away from any place specified by the court;
(f) Awarding the petitioner temporary custody of any minor children not to exceed ninety days; or

(g) Ordering such other relief deemed necessary to provide for the safety and welfare of the petitioner and any designated family or household member.

(2) Petitions for protection orders shall be filed with the clerk of the district court, and the proceeding may be heard by the county court or the district court as provided in section 25-2740.

(3) A petition filed pursuant to subsection (1) of this section may not be withdrawn except upon order of the court. An order issued pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall specify that it is effective for a period of one year and, if the order grants temporary custody, the number of days of custody granted to the petitioner unless otherwise modified by the court. Any person who knowingly violates an order issued pursuant to subsection (1) of this section or section 42-931 after service shall be guilty of a Class II misdemeanor, except that (a) any person convicted of violating such order who has a prior conviction for violating a protection order shall be guilty of a Class I misdemeanor and (b) any person convicted of violating such order who has a prior conviction for violating the same protection order shall be guilty of a Class IV felony.

(4) If there is any conflict between sections 42-924 to 42-926 and any other provision of law, sections 42-924 to 42-926 shall govern.

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§ 42-925. Ex parte protection order; notice requirements.

Any order issued under subsection (1) of section 42-924 may be issued ex parte to the respondent if it reasonably appears from the specific facts included in the affidavit that the petitioner will be in immediate danger of abuse before the matter can be heard on notice.

(1) If the specific facts included in the affidavit do not show that the petitioner will be in immediate danger of abuse or

(2) if the court does not issue an ex parte order or grants only part of the relief sought, the court or judge may forthwith cause notice of the petition to be given to the respondent stating that he or she may show cause, not more than fourteen days after service upon him or her, why such order should not be entered.

If such ex parte order is issued to the respondent, the court shall forthwith cause notice of the petition and order to be given the respondent stating that, upon service on the respondent, the order shall remain in effect for a period of one year and, if the order grants temporary custody, that such custody shall not exceed the number of days specified by the court unless the respondent shows cause why the order should not remain in effect. The court shall also cause to be served upon the respondent a form with which to request a show-cause hearing. If the respondent wishes to appear and show cause why the order should not remain in effect, he or she shall affix his or her current address, telephone number, and signature to the form and return it to the clerk of the district court within five days after service upon him or her. Upon receipt of the request for a show-cause hearing, the court shall immediately schedule a show-cause hearing to be held within thirty days after the receipt of the request for a show-cause hearing and shall notify the petitioner and respondent of the hearing date.

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§ 42-926. Protection order; copies; distribution; sheriff; duties; dismissal or modification; clerk of court; duties.

Upon the issuance of any protection order under section 42-925, the clerk of the court shall forthwith provide the petitioner, without charge, with two certified copies of such order. The clerk of the court shall also forthwith provide the local police department or local law enforcement agency and the local sheriff's office, without charge, with one copy each of such order and one copy each of the sheriff's return thereon. The clerk of the court shall also forthwith provide a copy of the protection order to the sheriff's office in the county where the respondent may be personally served together with instructions for service. Upon receipt of the order and instructions for service, such sheriff's office shall forthwith serve the protection order upon the respondent and file its return thereon with the clerk of the court which issued the protection order within fourteen days of the issuance of the protection order. If any protection order is dismissed or modified by the court, the clerk of the court shall forthwith provide the local police department or local law enforcement agency and the local sheriff's office, without charge, with one copy each of the order of dismissal or modification.

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§ 42-927. Law enforcement agencies; education and training programs.

All law enforcement agencies in the state shall provide officers employed by them with an education and training program designed to inform the officers of the problems of domestic abuse, procedures to deal with such problems, the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act, and the services and facilities available to abused family and household members.

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§ 42-928. Protection order; restraining order; violation; arrest, when.

A peace officer shall with or without a warrant arrest a person if

(1) the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed a violation of an order issued pursuant to section 42-924, a violation of section 42- 925, a violation of an order excluding a person from certain premises issued pursuant to section 42-357, or a violation of a valid foreign protection order recognized pursuant to section 42-931 and

(2) a petitioner under section 42-924 or 42-925, an applicant for an order excluding a person from certain premises issued pursuant to section 42-357, or a person protected under a valid foreign protection order recognized pursuant to section 42-931 provides the peace officer with a copy of a protection order or an order excluding a person from certain premises issued under such sections or the peace officer determines that such an order exists after communicating with the local law enforcement agency.

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§ 42-929. Arrest; peace officer; duties; conditions of release.

A peace officer making an arrest pursuant to section 42-928 shall take such person into custody and take such person before a judge of the county court or the court which issued the protection order. At such time the court shall establish the conditions of such person's release from custody, including the determination of bond or recognizance, as the case may be. The court shall issue an order directing that such person shall have no contact with the alleged victim of the abuse or violation.

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§ 42-930. Law enforcement agency; Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice; duties.

(1) By January 1, 1998, each law enforcement agency shall develop a system for recording incidents of domestic abuse within its jurisdiction. All incidents of domestic abuse, whether or not an arrest was made, shall be documented with a written incident report form that includes a domestic abuse identifier.

(2) By January 1, 1998, the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice shall develop or shall approve a monthly reporting process. Each law enforcement agency shall compile and submit a monthly report to the commission on the number of domestic abuse incidents recorded within its jurisdiction.

(3) The commission shall report annually to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public the total number of incidents of domestic abuse reported by each reporting agency.

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§ 42-931. Foreign protection order; enforcement.

(1) A valid foreign protection order related to domestic or family abuse issued by a court of another state, tribe, or territory shall be accorded full faith and credit by the courts of this state and enforced as if it were issued in this state.

(2) A foreign protection order related to domestic or family abuse issued by a court of another state, tribe, or territory shall be valid if:

(a) The issuing court had jurisdiction over the parties and matter under the law of such state, tribe, or territory;

(b) The respondent was given reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard sufficient to protect the respondent's right to due process before the order was issued; and

(c) The protection order from another jurisdiction has not been rendered against both the petitioner and the respondent, unless:

(i) The respondent filed a cross or counter petition, complaint, or other written pleading seeking such a protection order; and

(ii) the issuing court made specific findings of domestic or family abuse against both the petitioner and respondent and determined that each party was entitled to such an order. There is a presumption of the validity of the foreign protection order when the order appears authentic on its face.

(3) A peace officer may rely upon a copy of any putatively valid foreign protection order which has been provided to the peace officer by any source.

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