Nebraska
Nebraska leads with new veteran justice program, aiming to steer veterans back to ‘hero status’ • Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — A national panel of senior military and criminal justice leaders is hailing Nebraska landmark legislation that they say could help restore justice-impacted veterans to “hero status.”
Nebraska state lawmakers voted 44-0 in April to approve Legislative Bill 253 and create new veteran justice programs statewide, beginning July 1, 2025. Such programs would include evidence-based treatment and case plans for eligible veterans that would specifically address military service-connected conditions that contributed to criminal offenses.
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, chair of the Veterans Justice Commission of the Council on Criminal Justice, and a former U.S. senator from Nebraska, said he’s proud Nebraska is the first state to adopt recommendations from the 15-member commission.
“I’m not surprised that Nebraska would be leading the way of all the states in this,” Hagel said.
Nebraska leads the way in legislation
Hagel, who served in Vietnam, said he learned growing up how there was a World War II veteran in nearly every house in Nebraska and it was evident Nebraskans appreciated their veterans.
The commission has outlined state-level and federal recommendations, with Nebraska being the first state to adopt legislation based on the commission’s policy framework. State Sens. Tom Brewer, Justin Wayne and Lou Ann Linehan ushered it through the Legislature this year.
Brewer, a military veteran of 36 years, led LB 253 alongside Wayne, chair of Nebraska’s Judiciary Committee, and Linehan, a former campaign manager and chief of staff for Hagel in Congress.
Hagel said the legislation calls attention to an often overlooked issue: the transition from active duty to civilian life, a transition that more than 200,000 active-duty members make each year. Difficulties in making that shift have been exacerbated after the country’s two longest wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, he added.
“Because of an all-volunteer force, the same people kept going back and back and back,” Hagel said. “It wasn’t unusual to find veterans who had four or five, six tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Brewer, who has two Purple Hearts, is one such veteran. His service included six tours in Afghanistan. He’s also made multiple volunteer trips to support Ukraine, including this month.
Brewer described the legislation as supporting combat-impacted veterans who have made mistakes but who should be treated with respect because of their service to the country.
“Many times that exposure causes issues that they would not normally have in their lives, therefore that’s why their treatment should be uniquely different,” Brewer said in a text. “But it’s not a free ride — if you wanna make mistakes and continue to make mistakes, you will have a harder life than others.”
Civilian life ‘a whole different world’
Hagel said simply that the “transition process is not good” and noted that many service members enlist in their teens and get out 20 years later.
“We could derail a lot of these veterans from getting in trouble with the law or going to jail if we had that upfront transitioning help,” Hagel said.
His commission has aimed to replicate the veteran justice program in other states and aimed higher for congressional and federal action, with Hagel tapping into connections with former U.S. Senate colleagues and federal leaders.
One goal is a U.S. Department of Defense undersecretary whose job would be easing the process of transitioning from military service to civilian life.
“One day you’re in a uniform and you’ve had your years and years of being in an institution where there’s structure that you worked hard in, that you admire and you respect,” Hagel said. “And all of a sudden, you’re out — it’s a whole different world.”
According to the Council on Criminal Justice, roughly one in three veterans report being arrested or booked in jail at least once. The suicide rate for veterans is approximately 1.5 times higher than the rate among the general population and even higher for veterans after incarceration.
Under Nebraska’s legislation, all criminal courts — not just specialized courts, which have been established in four of Nebraska’s 93 counties — could consider whether there is “clear and convincing evidence” that a condition related to military service contributed to a criminal offense.
Returning to ‘hero status’
In 1997, Nebraska approved problem-solving courts and expanded them in 2016 to include Veterans Treatment Courts. These are 18- to 24-month intervention programs similar to the new policies advanced this year.
Across the country, 14% of counties operate similar, specialized veterans courts, though eligibility requirements exclude many veterans.
“The Veterans Justice Commission wanted an alternative to complement Veterans Treatment Courts, and that’s what this model policy does,” Jim Seward, commission director, said.
Seward said Nebraska has more than 200 veterans in its correctional system. He said it’s hard to say how many fewer would still be sitting in prison had the new law been in place sooner.
“But I would venture to guess somewhere in the neighborhood of half of them would have been considered for this more intensive, evidence-based treatment program,” Seward said.
Seward said every criminal judge in Nebraska, from Alliance or Scottsbluff to Nebraska City, could recognize a defendant’s veteran status and determine whether there is a connection to the alleged crime.
“If the judge decides that it is, they have this opportunity to build a therapeutic treatment plan for the individual, partnering with the VA and vet centers and all the resources that that brings to bear … to really try and help that veteran get back to what we like to say, ‘hero status,’” Seward said.
“They came home a hero — something went wrong,” Seward continued.
Minnesota passed similar legislation a few years ago, Seward said, but before the Veterans Justice Commission developed the policy framework.
Program parameters
Under the Nebraska bill, veterans are not eligible if their alleged offense is ineligible for probation, or in other select circumstances, such as if someone died as a result of the alleged crime or if the offense would qualify someone for the Sex Offender Registry.
If necessary for public safety, a veteran might still receive a prison sentence.
If eligible, a veteran’s case plan would be developed with court probation and appropriate experts and would:
- Include input from the veteran.
- Assess specific risks and needs, including whether there is a risk of intimate partner violence.
- Set clear and individualized goals, such as rules, consequences and incentives.
Veteran service status could be used as a mitigating factor but not an aggravating one in determining a sentence. Victims or alleged victims would need to be notified of program eligibility and could request to be part of the veteran’s restorative program.
Nebraska’s state court administrator will record how many veterans receive, decline or are denied participation in the program and will track the outcomes of those who are approved.
An annual report will be issued to the Judiciary Committee beginning July 1, 2026, regarding program completion, recidivism and housing and employment status per veteran. The data will include race, ethnicity, age, military discharge characterization and the involved offense.
‘Great example for the country’
Seward and Hagel said the country does a good job in supporting veterans with visible wounds — such as amputations — but not as much in supporting “invisible wounds,” such as post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, which could trigger veterans turning to substances to cope.
“We train them to be part of the most lethal force in the world, and when they come home, many of them struggle to just turn off that switch,” Seward said.
Seward said the commission has continued to work with various organizations, including the national associations for governors, state legislatures, district attorneys and defense attorneys, as well as various state supreme court chief justices.
“It’s really, obviously, a first step, but this is how momentum begins and how change begins,” Seward said.
Hagel said he took note of some of the transition challenges during his time as defense secretary for former President Barack Obama and talked with the joint chiefs about the need to do better.
He said Nebraskans should be proud that state lawmakers projected the state “into a real leadership role when it comes to taking care of our veterans,” which can be a model for others.
At least 10 states are in active talks with the commission, Seward said, and many are lining up “policy champions” to step up, a title he bestowed upon Linehan, Brewer and Wayne.
“It’s a huge effort to try to pass a law in 50 states, but you have to begin somewhere,” Seward said. “Starting in Nebraska, starting in the center of the nation, starting in a state that is, I think, well-known for reasonable politics that are not hyperpartisan, I think it’s a great example for the country.”
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Wednesday announced measures to further cut state spending, including a cut in state agency spending and a hiring freeze on most positions.
Pillen said in a news release that the measures are necessary after the state paid out $307 million more in state tax refunds than anticipated in fiscal year 2026, which ended June 30. Tax receipts have come in below projections in March, April and May, leading to a current expected deficit of $172 million.
That’s after lawmakers closed a $646 million budget hole in their most recent legislative session.
The governor has previously sought to cut spending to provide more property tax relief to Nebraska residents and had called for additional cuts during the current fiscal year.
“I am pleased with the progress we have made, but I’m not satisfied,” Pillen said in a news release.
Accompanying the release was a memo Pillen sent to state agencies, boards and commissions in which he called on them to “exercise additional fiscal restraint.”
Among the measures outlined in the memo:
- A freeze on creating any new positions or filling any vacancies without approval from the state budget office. The freeze does not apply to law enforcement or corrections positions.
- A 5% reduction in budgets for all state agencies.
- All agencies, boards and commissions must provide monthly cash flow projections.
- Agency leaders are directed to “concentrate” on eliminating redundant processes, services regulation and aid programs.
- Agency leaders are directed to reduce their agencies’ physical footprint and “consolidate teams and services.”
All state entities are required to submit their plans for reducing spending by the end of the month.
The memo also said agencies should “prepare for downward adjustments to appropriations” not only in the current fiscal year but also in the 2028 and 2029 fiscal years.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Nebraska’s lawsuit against Colorado over a proposed canal that would take water out of the South Platte River in Colorado and send it to a reservoir in Nebraska.
Nebraska claims Colorado is deliberately obstructing efforts to build the ditch, known as the Perkins Canal, even though everyone agrees Nebraska has the right to do so. The canal is necessary, Nebraska says, because Colorado isn’t sending enough water into Nebraska.
The Perkins Canal would divert water from the South Platte River near Ovid to a storage site somewhere in Nebraska. The South Platte River Compact, ratified by both states and Congress in 1923, requires Colorado to guarantee a flow in the river of 120 cubic feet per second at a water gauge near the state line during the irrigation season. The compact also authorizes Nebraska to build the canal and grants the right to use the power of eminent domain to acquire land on which to build it. Initial work was done on the canal more than a century ago, but the project was abandoned as unfeasible.
Nebraska resurrected the idea in late 2021, citing fears that urban development along Colorado’s Interstate 25 corridor and plans to expand water storage were causing Colorado to violate the terms of the 1923 compact.
The idea that Nebraska might actually build the canal has water users in the lower reaches of the river worried that doing so would disrupt the water augmentation process that underpins much of the crop irrigation along the South Platte, especially between Fort Morgan and the Colorado-Nebraska state line. It is designed to help Colorado meet the terms of the 1923 compact.
Colorado land owners have resisted Nebraska’s efforts to buy land in the Julesburg area so the canal can be built. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Gov. Jared Polis, while recognizing Nebraska’s right to build the canal, have nevertheless sworn to do all they can to protect Coloradans’ property and water rights. Seeing such rhetoric as subverting Nebraska’s right to build, Nebraska sued Colorado in the Supreme Court in July 2025, alleging that Colorado is obstructing Nebraska’s efforts to go ahead with the Perkins project. Nebraska also attacked Colorado’s water augmentation system, saying it doesn’t work.
To understand augmentation, it’s important to know that Colorado operates on the prior appropriation doctrine, meaning the oldest (senior) water right holders get their water first. During dry periods, senior users may place a “call” on a stream, forcing junior users to stop taking water to ensure the senior rights are fulfilled. When someone pumps water out of a river basin, it eventually pulls water out of nearby streams and rivers, which can illegally shortchange senior surface-right holders. In that case, the junior wells would have to be shut down until senior rights were satisfied
To avoid such shutdowns, called “curtailment,” Colorado devised a system called augmentation in which the water that is pumped during the irrigation season must be replaced during the winter months so it flows back through the aquifer into the river in the following irrigation season. Some augmentation is done simply by buying water rights from upstream users, increasing the amount of water in the river. The system is highly complex and requires detailed accounting of river flows.
In a prepared statement issued last week, after the high court agreed to hear the case, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Colorado is in compliance with the compact.
The court’s decision, he wrote, “merely opens the door for Nebraska to bring its claims against Colorado. Nebraska’s burden to prove those claims is incredibly high and we will vigorously defend Colorado’s full entitlements under the compact.”
Perkins Canal needed because Colorado is harming Nebraska
But Nebraska officials insist water augmentation isn’t doing what it was supposed to do. In its 55-page complaint to the U.S. Supreme Court, Nebraska calls the augmentation system illegal and a violation of the river compact.
“Colorado’s water administration system, including its augmentation plans, have harmed and will continue to harm Nebraska,” the lawsuit reads. “For example, many augmentation projects … allow junior well owners to pump water out of priority during the irrigation season, provided they pump or divert additional water during the non-irrigation season and apply it to recharge ponds. This method assumes that water will percolate back into the water table and make its way to the South Platte River in time to make whole downstream senior users.”
Kent Miller is general manager of the Twin Platte Natural Resources District, which includes most of the South Platte River in Nebraska. He’s said he’s watched the river since 1972 and is skeptical that augmentation even works.
“Those plans have not been working, and I base that on the fact that the Western Irrigation District rarely receives what it’s supposed to receive,” Miller said.
In May, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer filed an amicus brief with the high court recommending that the court allow the suit to go ahead, but with conditions.
In its lawsuit, Nebraska addresses augmentation because of its complexity and insists that any mechanism Colorado uses to comply with the compact should be simple. In his amicus brief, Sauer recommended tossing the argument.
“Nebraska reads Article VIII (of the compact) as mandating that compliance mechanisms be ‘simple,’ and it alleges that Colorado has violated that requirement,” Sauer wrote. “But Article VIII imposes no such requirement; it merely authorizes Colorado officials to enforce the Compact without action by the Colorado legislature. Because Nebraska’s Article VIII claim is facially meritless, it should not be permitted to proceed further.”
Sauer further recommended disallowing arguments that Colorado is obstructing Nebraska’s efforts to build the canal, saying Nebraska offers no evidence of such obstruction.
In signaling its acceptance of the lawsuit on Monday, the Supreme Court said it wants to hear all of Nebraska’s complaints and let the justices judge for themselves whether parts of it lack merit. Colorado originally had 30 days to respond to the court’s action but, on July 2, requested a 60-day extension.
Bellevue, Neb — Some Nebraskans arrived early with signs outside U.S. Rep. Mike Flood’s second town hall of the year, hoping to press the congressman on issues ranging from food assistance to the conflict in the Middle East.
Rhonda Mays said she brought a sign to show Flood what some constituents think and to encourage others heading inside to speak up. “People walking by that plan on going in there need a reminder to speak out, to ask the right question, and don’t just go to listen but to actually challenge the representative,” Mays said.
Flood said Nebraskans are able to treat each other with respect while also having tough conversations.
During the hourlong event, attendees asked about a range of topics, including multiple questions about SNAP benefits. Some Nebraskans said there is a large population facing food insecurity. Flood responded, “I understand your concerns with SNAP I work often with the foodbanks and with Nebraskans that need assistance. I appreciate the question and I will double back with some of my sources when I get a chance this week, but I have not heard anything about that from any of my sources.”
The crowd became particularly rowdy during discussion of the conflict in the Middle East. Flood said, “We have no greater ally in the middle east than Israel. We have no greater ally than Israel.”
Asked about the outcry after the town hall, Flood reiterated his position, saying, “Isreal was attacked by Hamas; a terrorist organization and horrific things were done to Israelis. At the same time Hezbollah working to do the same on the northern border and then you have the Houthis. Israel has the right to defend itself and we would as well if we were put in that situation.”
Flood holds three town halls a year. It was not known where his third town hall will be.
The town hall was held in Bellevue.
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