§ 26-116 — Protection order; filed, issued, and served without payment of costs; when

(1) Fees to cover costs associated with the filing of a petition for a protection order or the issuance or service of a protection order seeking only the relief provided by the Protection Orders Act shall not be charged, except that a court may assess such fees and costs if the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the statements contained in the petition were false and that the protection order was sought in bad faith.
(2) At the final hearing, a court may assess costs associated with the filing of a petition for a protection order or the issuance or service of a protection order seeking only the relief provided by the Protection Orders Act against the respondent.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1989, LB 330, § 12; Laws 1997, LB 393, § 1; Laws 1998, LB 218, § 21; R.S.1943, (2016), § 42-924.01; Laws 2025, LB80, § 16. Effective Date: September 3, 2025 Annotations: Under this section, the district court erred in taxing the costs of a domestic abuse protection order action to the petitioner without making findings that the facts in the affidavit were not true or that the order was sought in bad faith. Torres v. Morales, 287 Neb. 587, 843 N.W.2d 805 (2014).