A special legislative committee has asked Gov. Pete Ricketts for emergency funding to hire and train additional corrections officers for Nebraska's prisons.Ìý
"Between numerous recent incidents of violence against correctional staff, along with high staff turnover and the regular use of mandatory overtime, action needs to be taken immediately to assure Nebraskans that these lapses of security will not be tolerated -- not one more day," the 11 members of the Department of Correctional Services Special Investigative Committee said in a letter sent to the governor Thursday afternoon.Ìý
The letter followed a morning meeting between the committee and prisons Director Scott Frakes, and some moments of frustration with him by two members: Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus and Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers.
Senators have been trying to get Frakes to say how much money is needed to fix the system, and he continues to put them off while doing analyses and studies.
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In their letter to Ricketts, committee members said the state employees union blamed the June 10 escape of two inmates from the Lincoln Correctional Center on understaffing there.
High levels of turnover have led to large amounts of overtime and have overextended prison staff, putting them and the community at risk, senators said.Ìý
Ricketts' office is reviewing the letter, said spokesman Taylor Gage.Ìý
"As Director Frakes said earlier this week, the fugitive convicts were able to escape because Corrections staff failed to follow procedure, not because of overtime or staffing," he said.Ìý
The prison was fully staffed at the time of the escape, and neither of the two employees that officials said failed to follow procedure was working overtime, Gage said.Ìý
The director is preparing his first two-year budget request since taking office and is looking at the department's needs, he said.Ìý
At the committee meeting, Ombudsman Marshall Lux gave senators an email his office received from a prison employee, saying the prisons have been critically understaffed for at least six years. Very little has been done to solve the problem, said the employee, who Lux did not name.
Lack of staff allows inmates to pay attention to gaps in security and then take advantage of them, the employee said.Ìý
A large problem is the department's failure to pay correctional officers for experience, the email said.Ìý
"We need to have pressure from everyone to have the governor reopen the contract with the union immediately to give corrections step raises ...," which reward employees for longevity, additional education, etc. "We cannot wait until the new contract to solve this problem."
Overtime and lack of experience contribute to the problems, the employee said.Ìý
"Guess how attentive employees are on the second half of a double shift," the employee told the ombudsman.Ìý
"It is time for a change in thinking before we become so short of help we have to lock down institutions."Â
At the Thursday meeting, Schumacher said the cost of fixing problems in Nebraska prisons could take $100 million -- or much more -- for staffing, programming, facilities and parole needs.Ìý
But senators are still in the dark as to exactly what the department needs. And Frakes, who has been in the director's position 16 months, continues to tell them he'll let them know about budget needs in September, when analyses and studies are complete and the request is due.Ìý
"We should have all the metrics, all the numbers that we need at this point … to bring our prison system up to snuff," Schumacher said. "We're not getting that."
Someone wants to delay the budget information because it would have a significant impact on spending, and any lowering or raising of taxes, he said.Ìý
Presumably Schumacher was talking about Frakes' boss, Ricketts.Ìý
Omaha Sen. Bob Krist told Frakes he expected to see a budget that detailed how the department was going to fix each problem. And he hoped the director was in charge of his own budget, he said. Â
Frakes was hired to fix the state's prisons, said Schumacher.Ìý
"You've got a lot of training, a lot of experience. You came with high expectations, the endorsement of many of us who are on the committee, because you knew your stuff," he said.Ìý
It's time now to give the Legislature straight talk, he said. Still, Frakes said he's not prepared.Ìý
"I hear the word 'stall,'" Schumacher said.Ìý
Chambers got up and left the committee meeting upset that Frakes was leaving after about 25 minutes, apparently because he had to go to a budget meeting.Ìý
"I'll come back after this part of the charade is over," Chambers said after telling Frakes he and others should be fired over the escape incident.Ìý
But Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks told Frakes many people at the meeting feel positive about him.
"I think you're in a tight spot," she said. "My feeling is your hands are tied."
Lincoln Sen. Kate Bolz said she feels the recent escape was related to a stressed system in which there is overcrowding, understaffing, inexperience.Ìý
All systems have weaknesses and flaws that will be discovered and exploited, Lux told the committee. And stress on those systems can lead to catastrophic failures.Ìý
"I do not believe that reassigning a warden and firing a few overworked employees at LCC is going to address the real problem," Lux said. "The real problem is much bigger than that."