LB 963

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                          LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                      ONE HUNDRED NINTH LEGISLATURE
                                SECOND SESSION
                  LEGISLATIVE BILL 963
   Introduced by McKinney, 11.
   Read first time January 12, 2026
   Committee: Judiciary
1   A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to immigration; to amend section 83-176,
2Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and section 83-170, Revised
3Statutes   Supplement,    2025;    to   prohibit      agreements   relating   to
4immigration   enforcement   by     state   agencies    and   officials   without
5legislative approval; to state findings; to define terms; to change
6provisions of the Nebraska Treatment and Corrections Act relating to
7detention of prisoners; and to repeal the original sections.
8    Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1Section 1.     (1) The Legislature finds and declares that:
2(a) State agencies and state officials entering into agreements to
3    enforce immigration law or to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect,
4    or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes pursuant to such
5    agreement is a matter of statewide concern;
6(b) The public is entitled to receive notice and have an opportunity
7    to be heard concerning such agreements; and
8(c) Such agreements should only be authorized when they have been
9    approved by the Legislature.
10(2) For purposes of this section:
11(a)(i)      Immigration     enforcement        agreement    means     an   agreement,
12    contract, lease, or memorandum of understanding between a state agency
13    and any other public entity, pursuant to which the state agency will
14    enforce immigration law or investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, or
15    arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes.
16(ii) Immigration enforcement agreement does not include an agreement
17    between a state agency and a public entity, including the United States
18    Department of Homeland Security, relating to investigating violations of
19    laws prohibiting human trafficking or enforcing such laws; and
20(b) Public entity means the United States; any state, county, or
21    municipality; and any branch, subdivision, board, commission, department,
22    agency, or other instrumentality of such entities.
23(3) A state agency or official shall not enter into any immigration
24    enforcement     agreement      without    first     receiving      approval    from     the
25    Legislature. Any immigration enforcement agreement that has not been
26    approved by the Legislature is void and unenforceable.
27(4) Any immigration agreement entered into by a state agency or
28    official   prior    to   the    effective      date    of   this    act   is   void     and
29    unenforceable.
30Sec.   2.    Section    83-170,      Revised    Statutes    Supplement,     2025,    is
31   amended to read:
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183-170 As used in the Nebraska Treatment and Corrections Act, unless
2    the context otherwise requires:
3(1) Board means the Board of Parole;
4(2) Committed offender means any person who, under any provision of
5    the laws of this state law, is sentenced or committed to a facility
6    operated by the department or is sentenced or committed to the department
7    other than a person adjudged to be as described in subdivision (1), (2),
8    (3)(b), or (4) of section 43-247 by a juvenile court;
9(3) Department means the Department of Correctional Services;
10(4) Director means the Director of Correctional Services;
11(5)     Facility     means   any     prison,      reformatory,        training        school,
12    reception    center,    community       guidance      center,     group    home,     or    other
13    institution operated by the department;
14(6) Good time means any reduction of sentence granted pursuant to
15   sections 83-1,107 and 83-1,108;
16(7) Maximum term means the maximum sentence provided by law or the
17    maximum sentence imposed by a court, whichever is shorter;
18(8) Minimum term means the minimum sentence provided by law or the
19    minimum sentence imposed by a court, whichever is longer;
20(9) Pardon authority means the power to remit fines and forfeitures
21    and to grant respites, reprieves, pardons, or commutations;
22(10)     Parole    term   means    the    time   from   release       on   parole     to    the
23    completion of the maximum term, reduced by good time;
24(11) Person committed to the department means any person sentenced
25    or committed to a facility within the department;
26(12)     Restrictive      housing    means       conditions    of     confinement  that
27   provide     limited    contact   with        other   offenders,     strictly       controlled
28    movement while out of cell, and out-of-cell time of less than twenty-four
29    hours per week; and
30(13) Solitary confinement means the status of confinement of an
31    inmate in an individual cell having solid, soundproof doors and which
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1    deprives    the   inmate   of   all   visual   and   auditory   contact   with   other
2    persons.
3Sec. 3. Section 83-176, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
4    amended to read:
583-176 (1) Whenever any person is sentenced or committed under any
6    provision of the laws of this state law to a specific facility within the
7    department or to the custody of the warden or superintendent of such
8    facility, he or she shall be deemed to be sentenced or committed to the
9    department.
10(2) The director may designate as a place of confinement of a person
11    committed to the department any available, suitable, and appropriate
12    residence facility or institution, whether or not operated by the state,
13    and may at any time transfer such person from one place of confinement to
14    another.
15Sec.    4.     Original     section   83-176,    Reissue    Revised   Statutes   of
16    Nebraska, and section 83-170, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2025, are
17    repealed.
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