Indefinitely postponed
Change the statute of limitations on certain civil actions for sexual assault of a child ↗
| Sponsor | Sen. George Dungan (District 26) (Introduced 01/09/2025) |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Ranking | The Nebraska Legislature is officially nonpartisan, and no published ideology measurement of its members is in our database - so none is shown. This page shows how members voted, never where anyone places them. |
| KJV verdict | FAIL · 2 grounds ↓ |
| Committees | Judiciary |
| Latest Action | 04/17/2026 Indefinitely postponed |
| Roll Call Votes | There have been no roll call votes |
| Source | view on nebraskalegislature.gov (new tab) → |
Brief (4)
If it passes, what changes
This bill removes the time limit for certain civil lawsuits over child sexual assault. It amends one statute and repeals its prior version.
- §1 eliminates any time limitation for suing the individual who directly caused the injury under §28-319.01 or §28-320.01.
- §1(1)(a) covers violations on or after August 24, 2017, or earlier violations not already time-barred.
- §1(1)(b) removes the prior twelve-years-after-21st-birthday deadline for suits against other persons or entities.
- §1(1)(b) applies that removal to violations on or after this act's effective date, or earlier ones not already time-barred.
- §1 exempts actions otherwise governed by the State Tort Claims Act and the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act from this no-limit rule.
- §1(2) keeps in place that a criminal conviction is not required to bring the civil action.
- §2 repeals the original version of section 25-228.
Does it do what it claims
The title says it changes the statute of limitations for certain child sexual assault civil actions, and the text does exactly that. No divergence between title and operative text is apparent.
- Title says "change the statute of limitations" — §1 removes it entirely rather than merely adjusting a deadline.
- Title says "certain civil actions for sexual assault of a child" — §1 ties this to violations of §28-319.01 or §28-320.01, matching.
- Title does not mention the tort-claims-act carve-out, but §1 adds one.
The case each way
The dispute is over whether eliminating deadlines for old claims is fair given how memory, evidence, and exposure to liability change over decades.
- For: §1(1)(a)/(b) let victims who were children sue once ready, since disclosure of child sexual assault is often delayed for years.
- For: §1 still excludes claims against the state and political subdivisions from the no-limit rule, preserving those separate liability schemes.
- Against: §1(1)(b) exposes third parties (employers, institutions) to suits over decades-old conduct, with no filing deadline at all.
- Against: removing any time limitation, as §1 does, raises evidentiary reliability concerns as witnesses and records age or disappear.
What the text cannot settle
This reading covers only what the text states; it does not resolve practical or financial effects.
- The bill does not state what "previously time barred" means for claims already expired before the relevant dates.
- The bill does not quantify any fiscal or insurance-cost impact on institutions now facing unlimited-duration exposure.
- The text does not define "entity" in §1(1)(b) beyond excluding the directly-causing individual.
- The bill does not state an effective date itself, though §1(1)(b)(ii) refers to "the effective date of this act."
- The text does not address how this interacts with existing tort-claims-act notice or filing deadlines beyond exempting them.
Written by claude-sonnet-5 from the Introduced of this bill on 2026-09-13, and from nothing else. It is a reading, not a source: bullets naming a section this bill does not contain are dropped before the page is built, but the prose is not otherwise checked. The verdict above does not come from it.
KJV verdict (2)
FAIL — Departs from the KJV
The bill lets victims of child sexual assault sue the people and organizations that enabled the abuse at any time, which is good. But it carves out the State and its political subdivisions, so a victim abused under government care still faces the old time limits while a victim abused under a private body does not. Scripture forbids judging by who the defendant is (Leviticus 19:15), and one bad provision spoils the whole (1 Corinthians 5:6).
2 grounds: 1 FAIL, 1 PASS. Any FAIL fails the bill.
PASS Section 1, 25-228(1)(b)
“there shall not be any time limitation for an action against”
“Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”Proverbs 31:8-9
“Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!”Isaiah 10:1-2
“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!”Matthew 18:6-7
Removing the time bar opens the mouth for the dumb and stops the law from turning victims of child abuse aside from judgment; it holds enablers of offences against little ones to account.
FAIL Section 1, 25-228(1)
“Except as otherwise provided in the State Tort Claims Act and the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act”
“Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.”Leviticus 19:15
“Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.”Deuteronomy 16:19
“My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?”James 2:1-4
“Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?”1 Corinthians 5:6
The bill honours the person of the mighty by keeping the state's own time limits while stripping them from everyone else, so the same child victim gets different justice depending on who the defendant is; this partial provision leavens the whole.
Read against the KJV standard from the Introduced text on 2026-09-13. Every quotation of the bill is checked against the bill's text and every verse is quoted from the 1769 text, not from the model.
Text (1)
- Introduced (new tab) (application/pdf)
Each link opens the legislature's own document.
All Actions (9)
| Date | Actor | All Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 04/17/2026 | Indefinitely postponed | |
| 01/07/2026 | Title printed. Carryover bill | |
| 02/06/2025 | Notice of hearing for March 26, 2025 | |
| 01/23/2025 | Rountree name added | |
| 01/15/2025 | Dover name added | |
| 01/14/2025 | Conrad name added | |
| 01/13/2025 | Raybould name added | |
| 01/13/2025 | Referred to Judiciary Committee | |
| 01/09/2025 | Date of introduction |
Votes (0)
There have been no roll call votes on this bill.
Sponsors (5)
- Sen. George Dungan [District 26] — primary sponsor
- Sen. Victor Rountree [District 3] — cosponsor (01/23/2025)
- Sen. Robert Dover [District 19] — cosponsor (01/15/2025)
- Sen. Danielle Conrad [District 46] — cosponsor (01/14/2025)
- Sen. Jane Raybould [District 28] — cosponsor (01/13/2025)
Committees (1)
| Committee | Activity | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Judiciary | Referred | 01/13/2025 |
Amendments (0)
There are no amendments to this bill.
Fiscal Notes & Statements (2)
The legislature's own companion documents; each link opens the official copy.
Related Bills (0)
No related bill information was received.
How this was worked out (1)
1. What was read
| version | Introduced |
| file | 01-introduced.pdf |
| sha256 | 37e696a4603d8b98925bb126360a87cd |
| characters | 2,060 |
2. What it was read against
| the standard | bills/kjv_prompt.txt, sha256 79671b42553a40fe28a8ac9c8ce9e60a |
| model | claude-fable-5-1 |
| read on | 2026-09-13 |
| the model was shown | the standard -- the verses of the 1769 text, quoted in full -- and the bill's words, and nothing else |
3. The grounds (2)
| FAIL | |
|---|---|
| FAIL | Section 1, 25-228(1)
“Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.” Leviticus 19:15 “Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.” Deuteronomy 16:19 “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?” James 2:1-4 “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” 1 Corinthians 5:6 The bill honours the person of the mighty by keeping the state's own time limits while stripping them from everyone else, so the same child victim gets different justice depending on who the defendant is; this partial provision leavens the whole. |
| PASS | |
| PASS | Section 1, 25-228(1)(b)
“Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9 “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!” Isaiah 10:1-2 “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” Matthew 18:6-7 Removing the time bar opens the mouth for the dumb and stops the law from turning victims of child abuse aside from judgment; it holds enablers of offences against little ones to account. |
4. How the verdict follows
| FAIL grounds | 1 |
| PASS grounds | 1 |
| the rule | any FAIL ground fails the bill -- even one, even beside good provisions (1 Corinthians 5:6), even for a good end (Romans 3:8); PASS grounds alone pass it; no grounds, no verdict. No counting, no weighing, nothing added up. |
| verdict | FAIL — Departs from the KJV |
5. What this cannot tell you
Every ground above quotes the bill and quotes the verse, so each can be checked. What the model did not raise cannot be checked the same way: a provision it passed over looks exactly like one that is not there. How often a ground is wrong, and how often one is missing, are not known.
Bill data comes from the Nebraska Legislature's own website, scraped and stored by our own pipeline; titles, sponsors, actions and vote tallies are shown as the Legislature published them. Nothing is generated. Nebraska's Legislature is unicameral and officially nonpartisan; its members carry no party label here because they carry none there. No published ideology measurement is in our database, so no bill or member on this site is placed on a left-right axis: every meter is a roll-call tally, labeled (Vote Record).