Chair of Lancaster County GOP accused of abuse in petition for protection order

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - A Lancaster County Judge has granted a Lancaster County woman a temporary protection order against Matt Innis, the current chair of the Lancaster County GOP.

10/11 has chosen not to identify the alleged victim.

Innis, who was elected chair for the second time last month, isn’t allowed to enter the woman’s home, contact her in anyway, possess a firearm, interact with her pets, restrain or harm her in any way.

The protection order comes after the woman filed a petition for a protective order in September, accusing Innis of stalking her, verbally abusing her, sexually assaulting her and more.

Court documents show the woman was granted an exclusion order against Innis in March, prohibiting him from entering her home without her permission and requiring that neither of them were to disturb the peace of the other.

Since that time, the woman alleges Innis has shown up at her home without permission multiple times. She said she’s discovered him inside of her home three times.

She wrote in the petition that once inside the home, he remained there for hours, berated her and threatened to take her vehicle.

In those instances, the woman reported she called the Lancaster County Sheriff’s office who said they can’t enforce an exclusion order.

Lancaster County Chief Deputy Ben Houchin confirmed they’d been called to the home four times this year, all before the protection order was served to Innis on Sept. 26. Houchin said violating an exclusion order is a civil matter, not a crime. He did say violating a protection order is against the law.

Houchin said deputies have not been called to the home since the protection order went into effect.

In addition to Innis entering her home without her permission, the woman accused him of stalking. She gives examples of him telling her “you got home late last night” and him recording her on his phone.

The woman also accuses Innis of sexually assaulting and violating her.

“I have every reason to believe that he will kill me,” the woman wrote in the petition.

The emergency order can be in place for a year, extended or vacated pending a hearing on Oct. 13.

10/11 has reached out to Innis and the Lancaster County GOP for comment and have not received a response yet.

Innis was arrested in 2022 after trying to enter the Nebraska Republican Party’s state convention without permission. No charges were ever formally filed against Innis in this case.

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