Every day in Douglas County, people walk into the Clerk’s office on one of the worst days of their lives. They are seeking protection orders. And what happens next matters more than most voters ever know.
What Is a Protection Order?
Nebraska law provides three types of protection orders processed through the Clerk’s office:
A Domestic Abuse Protection Order protects victims of domestic violence — physical abuse, threats, harassment, or stalking by a family member, household member, or intimate partner. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 26-103.
A Sexual Assault Protection Order protects victims of sexual assault by someone who is not a household or family member. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 26-105.
A Harassment Protection Order protects victims of harassment or stalking by someone outside a domestic or sexual assault relationship. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 26-104. All three begin in the same place. The Clerk of the District Court.
What the Clerk Does
When someone walks into the Clerk of the District Court’s office seeking a protection order, the office provides the forms, receives the petition, files it, assigns a case number, and enters it into the court’s electronic case management system. Errors such as a wrong date or a missing signature can delay a judge’s ability to act.
When a judge issues an emergency ex parte protection order, the Clerk processes it immediately and transmits it to law enforcement. A protection order that does not get where it needs to go does not protect anyone.
After an emergency order is issued, a full hearing is scheduled. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 26-104. The Clerk manages every filing, every notice, and every record from first filing to final order.
Why Speed and Accuracy Are Everything
The period immediately after a victim seeks a protection order is one of the most dangerous moments in a domestic violence situation. Every minute of unnecessary delay is a minute of unnecessary danger.
According to the Women’s Fund of Omaha, an average of 10 people request protection orders in Douglas County every single day. The threat landscape has changed dramatically. Violent incidents between dating partners increased from 28% in 2015 to 41% in 2022. More victims than ever are turning to the court for protection from people they once trusted.
And yet there is reason for hope. Protection order denial rates in Douglas County dropped from 17% in 2016 to just 3% in 2022. A decline that tracks directly with LB 532’s requirement that a hearing must be scheduled before any petition can be dismissed. When the law requires a judge to hear someone before turning them away, more people get protected.
Justin Wayne worked that bill. The data suggests it is saving lives.
In Douglas County, the Stakes Are Not Theoretical
In 2018, a Douglas County woman filed a petition for a domestic abuse protection order. She described her husband’s threats in detail — that he would burn the house down. That he would kill her.
The petition was dismissed without a hearing.
Months later, her husband set the family home on fire.
She survived, but spent more than two years undergoing more than thirty surgeries. She still died. A coroner ruled her death was directly related to that fire.
She asked the court for protection. The system failed her.
But before she died, she saw Senator Machaela Cavanaugh’s bill pass.
That case is exactly why LB 532 exists. Senator Machaela Cavanaugh championed this bill; fighting for Douglas County victims who deserved better than a system that could turn them away without even a hearing. Justin Wayne worked alongside her, helped shape its amendments, and moved it through the Nebraska Judiciary Committee and Legislature, ensuring that a hearing must be scheduled before a protection order petition can ever be dismissed.
This was Senator Cavanaugh’s fight. Justin Wayne was proud to help her win it.
Extending Protection to the Most Vulnerable, Including the Animals They Love
In 2023 as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Justin helped pass Senator Blood’s LB 157, extending protection order coverage to household pets under the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act.
Because he listened. Victims told him. Judges told him. They were seeing a rise in victims staying in dangerous situations to protect their animals — and animals taking the brunt of abuse when victims tried to leave.
He saw that. He acted on it. He helped write the law.
He didn’t just practice in this system. He helped fix it.
Why Justin Wayne Is the Most Qualified Candidate on This Topic
Justin Wayne is a practicing attorney with more than 20 years in Douglas County courtrooms. He has worked with victims of domestic violence. He has navigated the protection order process from the attorney’s side of the counter. He knows where delays happen, where the friction points are, and what the human cost of getting any of it wrong looks like.
As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee he helped shape the legal framework that governs every protection order in Nebraska, working alongside senators, advocates, victims, and judges to make sure the law actually protects the people who need it most.
He will not need to learn this process. He helped create it. He helped fix it. And he will run the office that administers it with the urgency, accuracy, and compassion that every Douglas County family deserves.
Because somewhere in Douglas County right now, a mother is finally finding the courage to leave. A family member is being stalked by someone they trusted. A person who called 911 this week is trying to figure out what comes next.
For every one of them, the first place they go is the Clerk of the District Court.
That office has to be ready. Fast. Accurate. Compassionate.
Justin Wayne will make sure it is.
This is Deep Dive 2 of the Front Door of Justice education series. Follow along at Wayne4NE.com.
Democratic Primary Tuesday, May 12, 2026 | Wayne4NE.com | Paid for by Wayne for District Clerk
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