Another regent says of University of Nebraska Regent Elizabeth O’Connor, ‘Of all the people I know who deserve second chances, she tops the list’
By: Zach Wendling
Nebraska Examiner
OMAHA — A University of Nebraska regent faces a felony charge for allegedly driving while under the influence of alcohol and crashing into another vehicle in mid-May, breaking the back and pelvis of a passenger in the other car.
NU Regent Elizabeth O’Connor of Omaha, 34, a former Douglas County deputy county attorney serving in her seventh year as a regent, is accused of a DUI causing serious bodily injury from the night of May 21 in Omaha’s Benson neighborhood, which is in O’Connor’s district. The Class IIIA felony charge carries a maximum of three years in prison and 18 months post-release supervision.
The severity of the allegation could impact whether O’Connor can serve. The Nebraska Constitution bars felons from holding public office unless the person’s civil rights are restored by the Nebraska Board of Pardons, which consists of the governor, secretary of state and attorney general.
Neither O’Connor nor her attorney has yet addressed her future as a regent, a position to which she was reelected to a 6-year term in November.
Alleged May 21 incident
According to police reports, O’Connor was driving her Subaru Outback east on Blondo Street about 8:33 p.m., when she crossed into the westbound lane and collided with a Ford Focus at the intersection of N 63rd and Blondo Streets.
Police said they found a half-empty bottle of Fireball Whisky in O’Connor’s vehicle and wrote that she was showing symptoms of intoxication, including bloodshot or watery eyes, slurred speech and alcohol on her breath.
Field sobriety tests confirmed her condition, the investigator wrote, and a blood test collected immediately after the crash indicated O’Connor had a blood alcohol concentration of four times the legal limit: 0.321%.
Both vehicles were totaled, according to the accident report. The crash occurred minutes from O’Connor’s home.
The vehicle police say her car hit had five passengers in it, including three children. The driver and children sustained minor injuries, according to the police report. The woman seriously injured in the crash and O’Connor, who had minor injuries, were taken to the Nebraska Medical Center.
O’Connor declined to comment for this story, and her attorney could not be reached. The family involved in the crash also declined to comment when reached by the Nebraska Examiner. Two listed witnesses did not return calls seeking comment. A spokesperson for the University of Nebraska system said NU “does not comment on ongoing legal matters.”
Douglas County Attorney’s Office
It took two months to file charges, partly because of O’Connor’s employment as a civil attorney in the Douglas County Attorney’s Office until last Tuesday, when she resigned, the timing of which the County Attorney’s Office confirmed.
Omaha’s top prosecutors opted out of the case involving O’Connor, citing a potential conflict of interest. That left Omaha City Prosecutor Kevin Slimp to file the felony charge in Douglas County Court on July 30.
Slimp told the Examiner a key reason for the delay was waiting for the blood test to come back from the lab. The police report was amended July 22 to include the BAC results. Slimp said he also needed time to review the evidence.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine defended O’Connor a day before she resigned, telling the Omaha World-Herald she had “been an exemplary employee for our office.” He also described what happened as “something that is terrible and needs to be addressed.”
O’Connor, a 2015 graduate from Notre Dame Law School, told the local paper through her attorney last week that she decided to resign “after much reflection and support from trusted colleagues.”
“While I am proud of my work serving Douglas County, I do not want my pending legal matter to serve as a distraction from the fine work and service the Douglas County Attorney’s Office continues to provide our community,” she said in the statement.
O’Connor was booked into the Douglas County Department of Corrections at 9:31 p.m. on July 31. She appeared before a judge the following morning. A county official confirmed she was released after posting 10% of a $25,000 bond around 7 p.m. on Aug. 1.
As a condition of her release, O’Connor must participate in Douglas County’s 24/7 Sobriety Program with daily monitoring and drug testing.
The Douglas County Court, with agreement from the prosecution and defense, waived a stipulation that O’Connor stay within 10 miles of the county. O’Connor’s next court date is Sept. 9 in Douglas County Court.
‘Everything she can to make it right’
NU Regent Paul Kenney, a Republican of Amherst and chair of the NU Board of Regents, said he would be as supportive as he could to O’Connor while not commenting on the criminal case.
“Just trying to be a friend and a colleague and do what I can to help,” Kenney said Monday.
Kenney and NU Regent Barbara Weitz of Omaha, who joined O’Connor on the board in 2019, told the Examiner that O’Connor has been through a tough time recently in her personal life, which Weitz described as a “year in hell.”
O’Connor was the youngest regent elected to the NU board in 2018, at 28 years old, and is one of just a handful of women to serve.
Weitz said the situation breaks her heart and that O’Connor “takes responsibility for making a bad choice, but she’s also doing everything she can to make it right.” Weitz said she remains supportive of O’Connor and that it is “imperative” that NU keep her as a regent.
Second chances
Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican who served as a regent for 10 years before becoming governor in 2023, including four years with O’Connor, would get to appoint a successor in the event of a vacancy.
The board is officially nonpartisan, and regents are often unanimous in their votes, but the party breakdown on the board is 6 Republicans and 2 Democrats. O’Connor and Weitz are the two Democrats.
In seven years — across hundreds of votes — only once has the board split 6-2 along party lines. That was in April, when the regents amended NU bylaws to try to comply with an order from President Donald Trump’s administration against higher education diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Weitz and O’connor opposed the changes.
O’Connor stands out among elected regents as having first served as a student body president and student regent for the University of Nebraska at Omaha, one of four students who serve in advisory roles to the board. She graduated from UNO in 2012.
Weitz described O’Connor as an “outstanding” regent, an “excellent” attorney and someone who has NU’s best interests in mind.
“Of all the people I know who deserve second chances, she tops the list,” Weitz said Monday. “We’d lose a great deal if we lose her.”