A new 1,500-bed prison could be operating as soon as 2026 if the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services can get the nod and the money from the state Legislature.Ìý
Director Scott Frakes announced Monday progress on the proposal to build more prison beds to ease overcrowding in the Nebraska system, which is among the most crowded in the country.
He and Gov. Pete Ricketts would have to convince the Appropriations Committee and then the rest of the Legislature to OK $230 million to build the prison in the next six years, plus $34 million annually to run and staff the prison.
Frakes said the proposal has shifted from a public- and private lease-purchase plan to a state-funded option because of the much higher lease-purchase cost, which could have reached more than $700 million over the next 30 years.ÌýÂ
Frakes laid out the need and plan Monday for the approximately 450,000-square-foot prison, which most likely would be built somewhere in or around the Lincoln or Omaha area, but could be near a smaller community with a short or easy commute to a larger city.
It would house about 400 maximum-security, 512 medium-security and 600 minimum-security inmates in a complex on about 100 to 160 acres.Ìý
Inmates are currently classified in this way: 21% at the maximum custody level, 32% at the medium level, 30% at minimum, and 17% at community custody, or work release.Ìý
The expectation would be that the prison would have a 100-year life cycle, with the ability to expand, Frakes said.Ìý
With a new prison, Frakes envisions the department could repurpose existing facilities, including the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, which could become a 960-bed medium-security prison; the State Penitentiary, which could be a minimum-security prison for about 950 inmates, and the Work Ethic Camp in McCook, which could become a 200-bed community corrections center.Ìý
The $230 million cost of the new prison would include the land and construction, Frakes said. The $34 million in annual maintenance costs could be reduced to about $14.5 million by repurposing other prisons, Frakes told reporters. That would be in 2020 dollars.Ìý
If the plan progresses, he said the department would begin to look for a site where a workforce could be easily attracted and retained and resources would be accessible. Finding a place to build could take six to eight months, with purchase of a site by spring 2022.
If it all comes together, he would like to see construction begin by August 2022, with minimum-custody beds completed in two years, and the whole prison operational by 2025 or the first half of 2026.ÌýÂ
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The department would ask for the Legislature to spread out funds over six years, beginning with the 2021-23 budget amount of $115 million.Ìý
It would request proposals for a program statement, and then if the appropriation looked viable, request proposals for the design, at about the time the budget is signed, usually in May.Ìý
Frakes explained the need for the prison, saying that although the inmate population went down to about 5,250 this summer because of COVID-19, it has already started to increase slightly. A consultant has projected a total population of close to 6,500 by 2025.Ìý
As the state grows, the prison population will increase, he said.Ìý
"So, for every 100,000 new Nebraskans, we can statistically expect to need about ... 283 prison beds," he said.ÌýÂ
The need for a new prison is a reality, he said, because despite judges trying every tool and approach they can think of to avoid locking people up, incarceration frequently is the only option left.Ìý
Frakes said the belief that the state continues to incarcerate first-time, low-level drug offenders who could be released and bring down the population is not true.Ìý
"What we see is that on average, those incarcerated for drug offenses as their most serious crime have 20 prior convictions," he said. "The last time we went through the group, the outlier was over 40 (convictions) and there was truly just a handful of people that were in the single digits."
Still, a number of senators and inmate advocates criticize the department for thinking it can build its way out of overcrowding problems.Ìý
Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop, chairman of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, has said the solution to overcrowding ultimately is going to be some thoughtful combination of reforms and building. And he has suggested new building should be for community custody beds in Omaha.
The ACLU of Nebraska has said it strongly opposed any plan to try to build out of the current crisis. Nebraska is in a declared crowding emergency. It is down at the moment from its previous 158% of design capacity because of COVID-19, but that will go up again.
A federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU because of chronic overcrowding, understaffing, inadequate health care and disability accommodations, was recently dismissed because class-action status was not approved by the court.
ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad has said building any new prison would only add to current problems while costing taxpayers millions.
“I cannot understand why the department would want to embrace a business model that depends on locking up more and more of our Nebraska neighbors,†Conrad said. “Nebraska is struggling to adequately staff the facilities we already have."
Over the past six years, the state has invested $170 million in construction, with some beds still under construction. In addition, it has spent $14 million for 222.5 additional positions, with $7 million in this two-year budget and $3.2 million in the previous one for security staff salary adjustments.Ìý