Sen. McKinney urges special prosecutors, outside investigators for deaths during apprehension in LB277

Senator Terrell McKinney, D-Terrell McKinney, told the Judiciary Committee that LB277 would require appointment of a special prosecutor and outside homicide investigators whenever someone dies while being apprehended or in law enforcement custody, and would call a grand jury within 30 days and restrict involved officers from returning to duty until the process is complete.

McKinney said the bill is intended to “strengthen public trust and accountability in investigations of death,” and to prevent situations where a county attorney closely tied to the department involved presents the case and “gives the impression of a conflict of interest.” He told the committee that the bill would require a special prosecutor to “select a team of homicide investigators with at least 2 of them coming from outside the community where the death occurred.”

Supporters and opponents debated whether the change is necessary. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine argued the prior experiment with special prosecutors from 2002 and a 2010 reversal shows the appointment of outside private prosecutors proved costly and inefficient, noting changes in 2020 that made grand jury transcripts and exhibits public. “We don't have to speculate about what would happen if this change was made,” Kleine said, recounting the Legislature's earlier experience.

Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hansen said Nebraska already triggers an automatic grand jury for in-custody deaths and that the county attorney and outside agencies routinely participate in investigations. “I don't think it's broke, and there's no need to necessarily fix it,” Hansen said, while acknowledging the community trust concerns McKinney raised. Patrick Dempsey of the Omaha Police Officers Association warned LB277 would remove decision-making from an elected county attorney and noted practical staffing impacts if officers must be taken off duty while investigations proceed.

Testimony included a neutral speaker who described public perceptions that those who die in custody are treated as presumed guilty; he called LB277 “very useful for a solution in community values.” Senator McKinney said he brought the bill because of constituent demands for independent oversight and because families said they lacked confidence in past investigations.

The hearing record contains proponent and opponent testimony but no formal committee vote or final action on LB277 in the transcript.