Like many Americans, Lincoln Airport Authority Police Corporal Jay Pitts remembers his father coming home at night after a long day’s work. Pitts’ father was especially noticeable, as he rolled into the driveway in a Lincoln Police Department (LPD) cruiser.
“I’d see him come home in his blue-and-white back then, and I just thought he was the coolest thing ever,” Pitts said. “He was kind of my role model, the guy I idolized, the guy I looked up to.”
Pitts still has a photo of himself as a child wearing his father’s eight-point hat, so oversized it nearly falls off his head. He also remembers his father’s impact on the area they lived in.
“I saw what he was doing in the community,” Pitts said. “I think he was probably involved in community-based policing before it even had a name.”
Inspired by his father, the younger Pitts is now running for Lancaster County Sheriff. In an exclusive interview with Courier Nebraska, he outlined his platform, built on that same community-based policing he saw as a child—as well as modernizing the sheriff’s department, holding officers more accountable for misconduct, and earning the public’s trust.
To win on Nov. 3, he’ll have to get more votes than Lancaster County Chief Deputy Ben Houchin, who’s running against him.
The result of the election could dramatically impact how Lancaster County residents interact with their local law enforcement on a day-to-day basis.
Pitts prioritizes community in campaign
As the county’s chief law enforcement officer, a county sheriff manages the deputies who respond to calls and make arrests in the area they cover. Some sheriffs oversee inmate programs at county jails, aid in emergency response, and partner with other local, state, and federal agencies, including courts.
If you’ve ever called about a noisy neighbor, been in a fender bender, or needed a protection order, it’s likely your local sheriff played a part in how the responding sheriff’s deputy handled it.
Jay Pitts said he wants to cement sheriffs and deputies as approachable, trustworthy members of the community.
Pitts, who was born and raised in Lancaster County, began his law enforcement career in 1995 when he joined the LPD. He was soon promoted from officer to field training officer before taking a few years away from law enforcement to sell cars.
He returned in 2005 and joined the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office (LSO), where he was promoted to their criminal investigations unit. At both agencies, Pitts said he was commended for his personality, ability to work with others, and presence in the community.
For the past 14 years, Pitts has served the Lincoln Airport Authority, where he was recently promoted to corporal.
Since starting out in law enforcement, Pitts said he’s put community front and center in his approach.
“I just had an event at a local restaurant here and it was a meet-and-greet of sorts, but it was more of a community-based event,” Pitts said. “I did some TikTok stuff and the biggest things that came up were Flock cameras, ICE, and some other things, and I told people ‘These are issues that I want to talk about. Come here and we can have a discussion. Let’s have a discussion. I’m not gonna be in uniform so I’m just Jay Pitts […] as a member of the community wanting to know what your questions and concerns are about all these topics.’”
Pitts’ role in the Lancaster County community extends beyond law enforcement. He’s a board member for two nonprofit organizations—Lighthouse and CentrePointe—which, he said, inform how he would run the sheriff’s office.
Lighthouse is an after-school program that provides academic support, evening meals, and enrichment and recreational activities on weekdays.
“I love being a part of that organization and showing the community that I’m giving back there,” Pitts said.
CentrePointe is a healthcare organization that operates more than 40 programs centered on mental health and substance abuse. Pitts said that when he met their CEO, he found they shared a common interest in modernizing healthcare and law enforcement.
“If you can’t change your leadership style, you’re gonna start falling behind,” Pitts said. “If you don’t want to advance or keep things moving in the right direction and changing as society does, that’s when you’re gonna start seeing turnover, you’re gonna start seeing morale go down, you’re gonna start seeing the culture of the agency go the wrong direction.
“And those are some of the things that are going on right now at the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.”
He specifically cited a policy at the LSO that prevents deputies from having visible tattoos, which Pitts sees as counterproductive.
Accountability, public trust also central to Pitts campaign
Pitts said he also feels strongly about accountability for law enforcement.
“As police officers, we have to be held accountable for our actions,” he said. “You have to be held accountable for the things that you do wrong in this profession, and you have to be transparent about that. There have been a lot of situations where police officers haven’t been held accountable and they run rampant and can do whatever they want to do without fear of being caught or punished.
“I’m a rule follower, but I want to give citizens the best product they can get out of me.”
He also stressed earning the public’s trust. He acknowledged it can be difficult, as more than 50 people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since the beginning of the second Trump administration and many folks across the country are equating local law enforcement with the federal agency.
“Is it tough to be a police officer because of the actions of other agencies? Yes, it is,” he said. “Any time anything like that happens, everybody in law enforcement in the entire United States is gonna feel it. To build that trust back in with the communities that we serve, you might have to get out of your comfort zone and do some things that are nontraditional.”
He said that includes engaging positively with the community and listening to public concerns about law enforcement.
“At the end of the day, the goal is to be the best police officer, sheriff, deputy, whatever, that you can be, but you’re gonna need to get that feedback from the community.”
Questions about Houchin’s past remain
As for Pitts’ opponent Ben Houchin, earning the public’s trust may be more complex.
On May 10, 2023, a nine-year-old girl in Lincoln’s Highlands neighborhood was riding her bicycle when a truck accidentally struck her, 1011 Now reported. The Lincoln police chief at the time, Teresa Ewins, identified Houchin as the driver of the vehicle.
According to 1011 Now, the LPD crash report stated that Houchin told police he was driving around 20 mph, looked away from the road briefly to change the radio station, and that’s when the accident occurred. It further stated that the girl “came out of nowhere” and Houchin didn’t see her before the impact.
Chief Ewins is quoted in the police report saying that neither drugs nor alcohol were suspected in the collision.
The girl was treated at the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha for a brain bleed, a skull fracture, concussion, fractured shoulder, injured knee, and road rash. In a statement issued later that week, Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner said, “We have not been provided with any information to indicate that Chief Deputy Houchin violated any LSO policies during this incident.”
No citations were issued against Houchin.
The following month, the victim’s mother, Tiarrah Moton, filed a vehicular negligence suit against Houchin, alleging that he was either driving too fast for the road conditions at the time, failed to yield, failed to keep his vehicle under control, or failed to pay attention, and requested compensation for her daughter’s injuries, general damages, and medical expenses. Houchin denied those allegations.
Then, in October 2023, Moton filed for a protection order related to the incident. She alleged that since filing her negligence suit, Houchin had been intimidating her family. Moton, who lives on the same street as Houchin, claimed the chief deputy sat outside and filmed her and her children.
On a separate occasion, she said, Houchin and his friends used a vehicle to block her driveway for 10 minutes until she walked outside, at which point Houchin left. Local news reported that the LPD had provided them with dispatch records showing officers were dispatched to the area, though no formal reports were made.
Eight days after petitioning for the protection order, she filed a request for its dismissal.
A court date in July 2026 was set for the vehicular negligence suit, though it hasn’t yet happened.
The case is still ongoing, and Houchin’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.
And then in September 2026, Houchin’s ex-wife, Maureen Brase-Houchin, gave a sworn statement to the Lincoln Journal Star in which she accused Houchin of physical and emotional abuse during their relationship. According to the publication, Brase-Houchin alleged that Houchin “squeezed her neck in a way that made her uncomfortable, made a comment about her disappearing, and forced his way through locked doors during an argument.”
The Journal Star further reported that Brase-Houchin said her ex-husband “intimidated her by firing a gun into a nearby creek bed after yelling at her and two of the couple’s children,” and that “Houchin has denied the allegations.”
Pitts plans to adapt to changing crime statistics
Overall, crime in Lincoln has decreased in recent years, but the strongest violent crime, known as Type 1, has increased. This includes domestic violence, which Pitts said he wants to focus on.
“Basically, what I’d want to do is to get the sheriff’s office involved in a program, kind of like the state patrol’s got,” he said. “They’ve got a response unit for domestic violence specifically to go out and deal with these types of crimes. I don’t know if the sheriff’s office would have the staffing for it, but at least we could get some more specialized training in investigating domestic violence cases.”
Lancaster County residents will decide on Nov. 3 if Pitts’ platform is right for them. In the meantime, he has confidence in his experience.
“I have no bad marks in my law enforcement career, spanning back to 1995, and my record reflects that,” Pitts said. “My integrity is solid, I’ve got good judgment, and I think that I’ve got the respect of the public around here.
“And I’ve got their trust too.”
As for Houchin’s plans as sheriff, a quote on his campaign website states that he looks forward to “working together to continue to solve the toughest issues facing our county.”
Some of the issues Houchin posted on his website include raising LSO captains’ pay, recruiting more deputies, and peer intervention for officer misconduct.
Courier Nebraska reached out to Houchin’s campaign requesting an interview and comments, but the requests went unanswered.
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