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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED NINTH LEGISLATURE
SECOND SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 744
Introduced by Juarez, 5.
Read first time January 07, 2026
Committee: Business and Labor
A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to first responders; to amend section 71-7113,1
Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and section 48-101.01, Revised2
Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2024; to include public safety3
communications personnel in certain provisions of the Nebraska4
Workers' Compensation Act and the Critical Incident Stress5
Management Act; to define and redefine terms; and to repeal the6
original sections. 7
Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,8
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Section 1. Section 48-101.01, Revised Statutes Cumulative1
Supplement, 2024, is amended to read: 2
48-101.01 (1) The Legislature finds and declares:3
(a) The occupations of first responders are recognized as stressful4
occupations. Only our nation's combat soldiers endure more stress.5
Similar to military personnel, first responders face unique and uniquely6
dangerous risks in their sworn mission to keep the public safe. They rely7
on each other for survival to protect the communities they serve;8
(b) On any given day, first responders can be called on to make life9
and death decisions, witness a young child dying with the child's grief-10
stricken family, make a decision that will affect a community member for11
the rest of such person's life, or be exposed to a myriad of communicable12
diseases and known carcinogens; 13
(c) On any given day, first responders protect high-risk individuals14
from themselves and protect the community from such individuals;15
(d) First responders are constantly at significant risk of bodily16
harm or physical assault while they perform their duties;17
(e) Constant, cumulative exposure to horrific events make first18
responders uniquely susceptible to the emotional and behavioral impacts19
of job-related stressors; 20
(f) Trauma-related injuries can become overwhelming and manifest in21
post-traumatic stress, which may result in substance use disorders and22
even, tragically, suicide; and 23
(g) It is imperative for society to recognize occupational injuries24
related to post-traumatic stress and to promptly seek diagnosis and25
treatment without stigma. This includes recognizing that mental injury26
and mental illness as a result of trauma is not disordered, but is a27
normal and natural human response to trauma, the negative effects of28
which can be ameliorated through diagnosis and effective treatment.29
(2) Personal injury includes mental injuries and mental illness30
unaccompanied by physical injury for an employee who is a first31
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responder, frontline state employee, or county correctional officer if1
such employee: 2
(a) Establishes that the employee's employment conditions causing3
the mental injury or mental illness were extraordinary and unusual in4
comparison to the normal conditions of the particular employment; and5
(b) Establishes, through a mental health professional, the medical6
causation between the mental injury or mental illness and the employment7
conditions by medical evidence. 8
(3) The employee bears the burden of establishing the matters9
described in subsection (2) of this section by a preponderance of the10
evidence. 11
(4) Until January 1, 2028, a first responder may establish prima12
facie evidence of a personal injury that is a mental injury or mental13
illness if the first responder: 14
(a) Presents evidence that the first responder underwent a mental15
health examination by a mental health professional upon entry into such16
service or subsequent to such entry and before the onset of the mental17
injury or mental illness and such examination did not reveal the mental18
injury or mental illness for which the first responder seeks19
compensation; 20
(b) Presents testimony or an affidavit from a mental health21
professional stating the first responder suffers from a mental injury or22
mental illness caused by one or more events or series of events which23
cumulatively produced the mental injury or mental illness which brought24
about the need for medical attention and the interruption of employment;25
(c) Presents evidence that such events or series of events arose out26
of and in the course of the first responder's employment; and27
(d) Presents evidence that, prior to the employment conditions which28
caused the mental injury or mental illness, the first responder had29
participated in resilience training and updated the training at least30
annually thereafter. 31
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(5) For purposes of this section, mental injuries and mental illness1
arising out of and in the course of employment unaccompanied by physical2
injury are not considered compensable if they result from any event or3
series of events which are incidental to normal employer and employee4
relations, including, but not limited to, personnel actions by the5
employer such as disciplinary actions, work evaluations, transfers,6
promotions, demotions, salary reviews, or terminations.7
(6)(a) The Department of Health and Human Services shall provide8
reimbursement for the cost of any of the following to the extent not9
reimbursed by the first responder's employer: A mental health examination10
by a mental health professional upon entry into such service or11
subsequent to such entry and before the onset of a mental injury or12
mental illness for which compensation is sought; initial resilience13
training; and annual resilience training. The department shall pay14
reimbursement at a rate determined by the Critical Incident Stress15
Management Program under section 71-7104. Reimbursement for resilience16
training shall be subject to the annual limit set by such program under17
section 71-7104. 18
(b) To obtain reimbursement under this subsection, a first responder19
shall submit an application to the Department of Health and Human20
Services on a form and in a manner prescribed by the department.21
(7) The Department of Health and Human Services shall maintain and22
annually update records of first responders who have completed annual23
resilience training. 24
(8) For purposes of this section: 25
(a) County correctional officer means a correctional officer26
employed by a high-population county whose: 27
(i) Position obligates such employee to maintain order and custody28
of inmates in a county jail; and 29
(ii) Duties involve regular and direct interaction with high-risk30
individuals; 31
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(b) Custody means: 1
(i) Under the charge or control of a state institution or state2
agency and includes time spent outside of the state institution or state3
agency; or 4
(ii) In the custody of a county jail in a high-population county or5
in the process of being placed in the custody of a county jail in a high-6
population county; 7
(c) First responder means a sheriff, a deputy sheriff, a police8
officer, an officer of the Nebraska State Patrol, a volunteer or paid9
firefighter, public safety communications personnel, or a volunteer or10
paid individual licensed under a licensure classification in subdivision11
(1) of section 38-1217 who provides medical care in order to prevent loss12
of life or aggravation of physiological or psychological illness or13
injury; 14
(d) Frontline state employee means an employee of the Department of15
Correctional Services or the Department of Health and Human Services16
whose duties involve regular and direct interaction with high-risk17
individuals; 18
(e) High-population county means a county with more than three19
hundred thousand inhabitants as determined by the most recent federal20
decennial census or the most recent revised certified count by the United21
States Bureau of the Census; 22
(f) High-risk individual means an individual in custody for whom23
violent or physically intimidating behavior is common, including, but not24
limited to, a committed offender as defined in section 83-170, a patient25
at a regional center as defined in section 71-911, a juvenile committed26
to a youth rehabilitation and treatment center, and a person in the27
custody of a county jail in a high-population county or in the process of28
being placed in the custody of a county jail in a high-population county;29
(g) Mental health professional means: 30
(i) A practicing physician licensed to practice medicine in this31
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state under the Medicine and Surgery Practice Act; 1
(ii) A practicing psychologist licensed to engage in the practice of2
psychology in this state as provided in section 38-3111 or as provided in3
similar provisions of the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact;4
(iii) A person licensed as an independent mental health practitioner5
under the Mental Health Practice Act; or 6
(iv) A professional counselor who holds a privilege to practice in7
Nebraska as a professional counselor under the Licensed Professional8
Counselors Interstate Compact; and 9
(h) Public safety communications personnel means:10
(i) A 911 operator; 11
(ii) An emergency dispatcher; or 12
(iii) An employee of an entity that employs 911 operators or13
emergency dispatchers; and 14
(i) (h) Resilience training means training that meets the guidelines15
established by the Critical Incident Stress Management Program under16
section 71-7104 and that teaches how to adapt to, manage, and recover17
from adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of18
stress. 19
(9) All other provisions of the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act20
apply to this section. 21
Sec. 2. Section 71-7113, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is22
amended to read: 23
71-7113 (1) All services available and provided to emergency service24
personnel under the Critical Incident Stress Management Act shall also be25
available and provided to state correctional employees and to public26
safety communications personnel for incidents which occur in the course27
of their duties or at their worksite. 28
(2) For purposes of this section, public safety communications29
personnel has the same meaning as in section 48-101.01.30
Sec. 3. Original section 71-7113, Reissue Revised Statutes of31
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Nebraska, and section 48-101.01, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,1
2024, are repealed. 2
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