LB 804

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                          LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                      ONE HUNDRED NINTH LEGISLATURE
                              SECOND SESSION
                  LEGISLATIVE BILL 804
   Introduced by Lonowski, 33; Hardin, 48; Lippincott, 34; McKeon, 41.
   Read first time January 07, 2026
   Committee: Judiciary
1    A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to peer support counseling; to provide for
2confidential and privileged peer support counseling as provided; and
3to define terms.
4    Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1Section 1.        (1) For purposes of this section:
2(a) Communication includes any oral communication, note, record, or
3    report;
4(b) Emergency services personnel means any employee or volunteer of
5   an emergency services provider who is engaged in providing or supporting
6   firefighting, dispatching services, and emergency medical services;
7(c) Emergency  services   provider       means      any    public   employer      that
8   employs     people     to    provide     firefighting,  dispatching      services,      or
9   emergency medical services;
10(d)     Employee assistance program means a program established by a
11   law enforcement agency, emergency services provider, or the Nebraska
12   National Guard to provide professional counseling or support services to
13   a law enforcement officer, emergency services personnel, or Nebraska
14   National Guard member;
15(e)     Law    enforcement    agency       has    the    same      meaning   as    in   section
16    81-1401;
17(f)     Law enforcement officer has the same meaning as in section
18    81-1401;
19(g)     Peer support counseling session means any session conducted by
20   a peer support specialist that is called or requested in response to a
21    critical incident or traumatic event involving the personnel of a law
22    enforcement agency, emergency services provider, or the Nebraska National
23    Guard;
24(h)     Peer support specialist means a person:
25(i)     Designated by a law enforcement agency, an emergency services
26   provider, the Nebraska National Guard, an employee assistance program, or
27   a peer support team leader to lead, moderate, or assist in a peer support
28   counseling session;
29(ii)     Who is a member of a peer support team; and
30(iii)     Who     has     received    training  in   counseling      and    providing
31   emotional    and     moral   support     to    a    law   enforcement      officer,     emergency
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1    services    personnel,    or   Nebraska    National       Guard   member    who     has   been
2    involved in an emotionally traumatic incident by reason of his or her
3    employment; and
4(i) Peer support team means a group of peer support specialists
5    serving a law enforcement agency, emergency services provider, or the
6    Nebraska National Guard.
7(2)     Any   communication    shall    be   confidential  and   shall    not    be
8    disclosed    by   any   person   participating       in   a    peer   support     counseling
9    session if:
10(a) Made by a participant or peer support specialist in a peer
11    support counseling session pursuant to this section; or
12(b) Conveyed in or as the result of the peer support counseling
13    session.
14(3)     Any communication relating to a peer support counseling session
15   made confidential under subsection (2) that is made between peer support
16    specialists, between peer support specialists and the supervisors or
17    staff of an employee assistance program, or between the supervisors or
18    staff of an employee assistance program shall be confidential and may not
19    be disclosed.
20(4)     Any   communication   arising    out     of    a   peer   support     counseling
21    session is not a public record.
22(5)     Any   communication    made    by    a   participant       or   peer     support
23    specialist in a peer support counseling session is not admissible in any
24    judicial proceeding, administrative proceeding, arbitration proceeding,
25    or other adjudicatory proceeding. Communications made confidential under
26    this section shall not be disclosed by the participants in any judicial
27    proceeding, administrative proceeding, arbitration proceeding, or other
28   adjudicatory proceeding. The limitations on disclosure imposed by this
29   subsection include disclosure during any discovery conducted as part of
30   an adjudicatory proceeding.
31(6)     Nothing in this section limits the discovery or introduction
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1    into evidence of knowledge acquired by any law enforcement officer or
2    emergency services personnel from observation made during the course of
3    employment or material or information acquired during the course of such
4    employment that is otherwise subject to discovery or introduction into
5    evidence.
6(7)   This section does not apply to any:
7(a)   Threat of suicide or criminal act made by a participant in a
8    peer support counseling session or any information conveyed in a peer
9    support counseling session relating to a threat of suicide or criminal
10    act;
11(b)   Information relating to abuse or neglect of spouses, children,
12    or the elderly, or other information that is required to be reported by
13    law;
14(c)   Admission of criminal conduct;
15(d)   Disclosure   of   testimony   by     a    participant   who    received   peer
16    support counseling services and expressly consented to such disclosure;
17    or
18(e)   Disclosure of testimony by the surviving spouse or executor or
19    administrator of the estate of a deceased participant who received peer
20    support      counseling   services   and   such       surviving   spouse,   executor,    or
21    administrator expressly consented to such disclosure.
22(8)   This section does not prohibit any communications between peer
23    support specialists who conduct peer support counseling sessions, or any
24    communications between peer support specialists and the supervisors or
25    staff of an employee assistance program.
26(9)   This section does not prohibit communications regarding fitness
27    of an employee for duty between an employee assistance program and an
28    employer.
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