For some, they're just a piece of paper issued by a judge, but protection orders carry a lot of weight for some victims of domestic violence.

The ongoing debate though, over the years has questioned whether they really work.

Requests for protection orders were near record levels in Lancaster County in 2008 and the number of arrests stemming from domestic violence also slightly increased from 2007.

So are the laws designed to protect victims working?
We sat down the attorney general, advocates and victims to find out.

"To me, if the crime has been committed, he needs to go to jail or he needs to be held accountable some other way.."

The opinion comes from Jody Schaubroeck's personal experience.
The crime is domestic abuse and in this case breaking an order of protection.
Schaubroeck's 27-year-old daughter, Amanda Thomas, was killed by an ex-boyfriend with a record of abuse.
When she was stabbed to death, there was a protection order against her boyfriend.

"I think the protection order is an important tool but its not magical. I think it does give them the sense that because the judge says you have to stay away that they'll stay away but that's not always true," said Schaubroeck.

The crime against Amanda happened in Missouri earlier this year but it got us thinking about what's being done in Nebraska about repeat offenders of such orders and if the process is working.

"The stiffer penalties no doubt cause modification in behavior so I do think its working," said Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning.

In 2001, as a state senator Bruning introduced a bill that made it a felony for anyone convicted of violating a protection order more than once.
The law took effect in 2002 and Bruning believes the penalties are working as a deterrent.

"Now can an abuser walk through a piece of paper, yea sure they can but if they do that on a regular occasion pretty soon they're going to find themselves in prison," said Bruning.

In Lancaster County, there's been a noticeable drop in repeat offenders of protection orders. 2008 saw an all-time low since the Family Violence Council began tracking the information in 1996. According to an annual report by the council, more offenders were being sentenced to jail time or intervention programs versus just being fined.

Investigator Tracy Graham sees the change in her work as the domestic violence coordinator with the Lincoln Police Department.

"I've seen people serve more time for re-offending so anytime that person is kept away from a victim longer that puts that victim in a place of safety," said Graham.

But some advocates and those who work with abuse victims question whether enough is done to enforce the protection orders in the first place.

"What I can see from talking to people is the efficacy of protection orders varies from county to county, from city to county and sometimes the city is really good with it, where the county guys may not be so much," said Schaubroeck.

Graham says investigations of protection order violations can be difficult - often a game of he said, she said. And sometimes, victims don't want their abusers arrested which can make it difficult for law enforcement.

"We often find typical situations where victims want a protection order one day and they don't want a protection order on a different day," said Graham.

But Nebraska law requires officers to make an arrest if there is a violation and to determine who is the aggressor when responding to domestic violence calls.

There's an on-going effort to educate those who work with domestic violence - including county attorneys and law enforcement.

Bruning admits there's been some problems with response to domestic violence calls in the state but says overall he feels good about the quality of law enforcement.

"We've had some county attorneys say I don't want to mess with this and they send the police out there and say ticket both parties. We've made it clear to those county attorneys that's not the way to do business. You need to look into the facts," said Bruning."There's always going to be somebody who is the aggressor, someone who is the victim. Figure it out. Do your job and figure out who the victim is here and ticket the right person. Don't tell the police to ticket both - that's not going to put an end to it. "