Holley Bolen

Holley Bolen served as Chief of Staff for the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office from 2003-2015. Prior to that position, she served as Legislative Assistant to Senator Bruning from 1999-2003. As Chief of Staff, Bolen was responsible for creating and implementing the Attorney General’s annual legislative package, managing communications and public relations, and overseeing operations and staff. Through Bolen’s efforts, the Attorney General’s Office successfully worked with legislators to pass more than 36 initiatives critical to law enforcement. Those initiatives included legislation placing pseudoephedrine behind the counter in retail outlets, which resulted in an 86% reduction in meth labs in Nebraska. Additionally, Bolen worked to pass several bills to increase penalties for those who prey on children. Bolen routinely worked with state senators, industry representatives, and interest groups to research and draft legislation and steward initiatives.

In 2010, Bolen led a National Association of Attorneys General task force comprised of internet service providers, network providers, Attorneys General, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and law enforcement to establish a best practices guide to better protect children. The guide, currently in use, streamlined the subpoena process and established protocols for companies to respond to law enforcement quickly and efficiently in matters involving child exploitation.

During her tenure as Chief of Staff, Bolen was instrumental in developing programs such as the body armor partnership program to Central America, which provided much needed protective gear for law enforcement agencies fighting street gangs in El Salvador. The program was a collaborative effort by the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office and the FBI National Academy Associates.

An advocate for children’s safety, Bolen served as Nebraska’s coordinator for the AMBER Alert System from 2003 through 2012. The AMBER Alert System provides notification of missing children to law enforcement and the public. Nebraska has a 100% success rate in recovering children when an AMBER Alert is issued.

Bolen graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She and her husband Matt reside in Lincoln.