Nebraska state prison staffing shortage worsens
By Andrew Ozaki
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OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — Nebraska’s prison system is facing a “dire staffing situation” as vacancies reach record numbers within the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.
A new report released Tuesday by Nebraska’s Inspector General of Corrections Doug Koebernick indicates that the staffing crisis he has seen over the past several years has worsened.
“It’s so much worse than what was a year, or two or three or four years ago,” Koebernick said.
According to the report, since 2019, total vacancies have gone from 379 to 527. A majority, 354, are front-line, protective custody staff.
“So when you’re talking 500 to 600 positions vacant out of 2,300 that’s a significant change, that’s a significant amount of vacant positions,” Koebernick said.
Koebernick said staff shortages have caused a domino effect, less staff means more overtime and turnover.
In June, the Department declared a “staffing emergency” at two facilities, the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center and Lincoln Correctional Center.
The State Penitentiary and Tecumseh State Correctional Institution were already in staffing emergencies.
It meant all protective service staff went to 12-hour shifts, resulting in less programming, recreation and visitation for inmates.
“Then that creates a more tense environment and that impacts staff, who are already stressed. And it keeps building on each other,” Koebernick said.
Koebernick said the bonuses, now up to $15 an hour don’t seem to be working and should be evaluated.
He recommended the department do more to address staff retention, including better compensation for veteran staff who are not covered by bonuses and consider higher pay for support and health staff.
He also believes the governor should consider calling in the Nebraska National Guard to help.
“Maybe man some towers or gates and things like that to kind of take some of that pressure off the staff,” Koebernick said.
Corrections staff will get an opportunity to talk to state senators Wednesday.
The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee has scheduled a listening session beginning at 4:30 p.m. in room 1113 of the State Capitol.
We reached out to Nebraska Department of Corrections Director Scott Frakes for a response to the report.
A spokesperson for Gov. Pete Ricketts said in a statement there is no plan to use the National Guard.
Director of Strategic Communications Taylor Gage said, “In this period of record-low unemployment, the state of Nebraska is facing a lot of the same challenges in hiring as businesses across the state, including hiring at the department of corrections. The state has made significant increases to corrections officer compensation in recent years, and we recognize more needs to be done. We are preparing to sit down with FOP (Fraternal Order of Police Union) to negotiate on additional steps we can take to help ensure we recruit and retain the workforce we need.”
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