Provide for court fees; change provisions relating to incentives for rural legal practice, protection orders, hearsay, sentencing, support order liens, and paternity proceedings; provide for no-contact periods for victims of certain assaults and civil actions for conduct relating to prohibited content or child exploitation devices; and provide for and change offenses involving mobile tracking devices, stalking, unlawful intrusion, operation of unmanned aircraft systems, and swatting
LB935 is a broad omnibus criminal justice and civil procedure bill that revises a wide range of Nebraska statutes. It updates the Legal Education for Public Service and Rural Practice Loan Repayment Assistance Act, changes court-cost and fee provisions, and modifies rules governing attorney-fee awards in certain frivolous or bad-faith actions, including suits involving political subdivisions. It also makes changes to the Protection Orders Act, hearsay exceptions, support-order liens, paternity acknowledgments and challenges, and the State Settlement Cash Fund, including transfers to several state funds.
The bill also creates or revises several criminal offenses and remedies. It adds or expands civil causes of action and penalties for conduct involving prohibited online content, child sexual abuse material, child sexual exploitation devices and images, mobile tracking devices, stalking, unlawful intrusion, swatting, and operation of unmanned aircraft systems in restricted areas. It also changes sentencing and probation rules, no-contact periods for victims of domestic and sexual assault, and provisions related to domestic violence, sexual assault victim information, and DNA identification. The bill includes emergency and operative-date provisions, with some sections taking effect immediately and others on later dates.
LB935 amends numerous sections of the Nebraska Revised Statutes and related supplements across criminal law, family law, civil procedure, court administration, and public funds. It creates new liabilities and enforcement tools for prosecutors, the Attorney General, counties, victims, and political subdivisions, while also imposing new duties on courts, law enforcement, and state agencies. Affected parties include attorneys, litigants, parents in paternity cases, support obligors, victims of assault and stalking, online platforms or internet utilities, drone operators, and persons subject to protection orders or criminal sentencing.
The voting record suggests the bill was generally supported, with multiple Judiciary Committee amendments adopted overwhelmingly and final passage on a 38-11 vote with the emergency clause. The pattern of votes indicates broad legislative backing for the bill’s overall package, especially its public-safety, victim-protection, and court-administration provisions. At the same time, some amendments and motions failed by notable margins, showing that not every policy choice in the bill was universally accepted.
The main points of contention appear to have centered on the bill’s more expansive criminal and civil enforcement provisions, including the new remedies tied to prohibited online content, child exploitation material, swatting, mobile tracking devices, and stalking. The failed motions and amendments suggest some senators sought to narrow or alter parts of the package, likely over scope, penalties, or implementation details, while the majority favored keeping the broader enforcement framework. There also appears to have been some debate over court-fee and fund-transfer provisions, though the final votes show those issues did not prevent enactment.