The office “believes that subpoenas are necessary in order to ensure all reports of impropriety have been submitted to the appropriate authorities. It is our goal that all reports of abuse are subject to complete law enforcement review and investigation as warranted,” the statement said.

Gage, the attorney general’s spokeswoman, said she couldn’t expand further on why the office issued the subpoenas. Similar probes in other states have led to grand jury investigations or criminal charges. Asked where the Nebraska probe is headed, Gage said she could not speculate.

An Omaha archdiocesan official had described a records search back in December as thorough, albeit conducted internally. A seven-member committee composed almost entirely of clergy (there was one woman on the committee), all with backgrounds in church or canon law, went through more than 100 years of personnel files.

The committee then essentially divided their findings into two groups: 38 names of priests and deacons who had been credibly accused of sexual abuse or misdeeds involving a minor, and 100 more names where claims were not as clear-cut.