LINCOLN- On Thursday, Nebraska lawmakers took a first step in advancing two portions of a three-part crime package that Attorney General Mike Hilgers previewed earlier this year. The bill, Sen. Bosn's LB935, would allow the Attorney General's Office and defendants to demand jury trials in response to alleged consumer protection violations or deceptive trade practices.

The Attorney General would also be granted the authority to freeze a bad actor's assets and prevent them from expending stolen funds. Bosn, a former prosecutor, pointed to two cases in the past year in which Nebraskans fell victim to elaborate scams. In one, a fraudulent farm equipment company scammed an Omaha family out of $9,200. In another, Hilgers sued a private Husker ticket package seller for allegedly scamming $87,000 from donors.

"I'm asking you to help give Nebraskans hope when they fall victim to these circumstances," said Bosn to her colleagues. Sen. Christy Armendariz's LB1096, which is designed to combat online child exploitation and human trafficking beyond the geographic limits of Nebraska, was also amended into the package. LB1096 would expand the definition of deceptive trade practice to include publicly available visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct, obscene material, or material harmful to minors.

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