State Sen. Dan McKeon changes plea to not guilty on misdemeanor disturbing the peace charge

LINCOLN — After initially filing a plea of no contest that wasn’t accepted when he didn’t attend his hearing, State Sen. Dan McKeon of Amherst has changed course and now plans to fight the allegation against him.

On Tuesday, the day before his rescheduled arraignment on a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace, McKeon filed a new plea of not guilty and waived his formal arraignment. The court accepted the plea and set his next court date for Jan. 26, ordering him to show up.

A legislative staffer accused the state lawmaker of groping her at an end-of-session party in May. The Nebraska State Patrol received a report in September that McKeon had allegedly “made inappropriate contact with her buttocks with his hand, over the top of her clothing,” Patrol spokesman Cody Thomas said.

McKeon’s second arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday morning after his arraignment was delayed when he tried to file a no contest plea by written waiver. Lancaster County Court Judge Matthew Acton said a no contest plea must be submitted in person and postponed the arraignment one week.

A no contest plea would have allowed McKeon to accept any criminal penalties without formally admitting guilt and would waive his right to a trial.

McKeon’s attorney Perry Pirsch at one point called the disturbing the peace charge “a victory,” as the charge had been downgraded from public indecency, which the Patrol initially cited McKeon with.

Pirsch said disturbing the peace was more consistent with McKeon’s perspective of the incident and that he’d planned to plead no contest in hopes that he could put the matter behind him and focus on the upcoming legislative session.

In a statement released at 5:25 p.m. Wednesday, Pirsch said the decision to change pleas was prompted by the Executive Board voting on Saturday to recommend McKeon’s expulsion from the state Legislature.

“Initially, Senator McKeon, having complied with the Executive Board’s prior requests, including attending a sensitivity training and moving offices, considered the matter behind him and would have pled no contest to disturbing the peace to put the matter to rest,” Pirsch said in the statement. “This is no longer the case. He pled not guilty and is more than willing to fight.”

Expulsion is the strongest disciplinary measure the board can recommend, but it requires a full vote of the Legislature to pass. This means the matter will likely come before lawmakers during the 60-day legislative session that begins in January. Expelling him would require the votes of 33 senators.

Executive Board Chair State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair has said the board concluded the expulsion recommendation was necessary “in light of a demonstrated pattern of behavior by Senator McKeon and not in response to a single isolated incident.” The board did not elaborate on this pattern, and Pirsch said McKeon “categorically rejects that claim.”

In his statement, Pirsch announced that McKeon would be hosting a Dec. 30 press conference in Kearney to “address the allegations against him and note his willingness to fight to defend his seat.”

McKeon has acknowledged that an exchange took place between him and a staffer after one of the Nebraska Legislature’s sine die parties this year, but argued his actions were not sexually charged. Pirsch has said McKeon “is guilty of nothing but a bad pun and pat on the back.”

The Examiner is aware of the alleged victim’s name but is not publishing it because it is the policy of States Newsroom and the Examiner not to identify people who say they have been abused unless they wish to talk publicly.

Her attorney, Kathleen Neary, noted her client is preparing a civil lawsuit against the senator.

“Senator McKeon has changed his story more than the weather changes in Nebraska,” Neary said in an email statement.

McKeon, a married father of four, is a registered Republican who was elected to the officially nonpartisan Legislature in 2024, replacing former State Sen. Fred Meyer of St. Paul.

Gov. Jim Pillen and other state officials have called for McKeon’s resignation, but McKeon has said he will not resign.

“I will continue to serve my district, to show up, and to fight for the principle that representation is decided by the people — not by closed meetings, incomplete records, political cowardice or pressure campaigns,” McKeon said in the statement. “I will try to watch my future comments, but I might still occasionally have a bad joke slip out, and those who are eggshells should avoid me, not engage me in conversation.”