Paul Hammel
LINCOLN — A task force seeking a “Nebraska way” to reduce prison overcrowding and avoid repeat crimes by inmates is calling for a “deeper dive” into ways to improve post-release supervision and reduce the number of inmates serving short sentences.
The Nebraska Sentencing Reform Task Force, which was formed by a 2023 criminal justice law, issued its annual report in November, calling for more study of possible reforms with the intention of introducing proposals during the 2026 legislative session.
Members of the task force expressed differing views on whether meaningful reforms will ever be adopted.
State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, who is term-limited, said that while task force members have been working together, “now it comes down to the politics, I don’t know if we’ll have strong enough willpower to get something done.”
Wayne, the chairman of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, has long argued that doing nothing will mean the state will need to build not one but two $350 million-plus prisons to handle the anticipated increase in inmates by 2030.
Facility master plan
A Facility Master Plan for the Nebraska Department of Corrections, released in 2023, stated that Nebraska would still have 1,300 more inmates than its prisons were designed to hold after a new, 1,500-bed facility is completed north of Lincoln.
A second new prison would be needed by 2030, said Dewberry, the consultant who produced the master plan.
Meanwhile, a report earlier this year by the Center for Justice Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha said the state could avoid building a second new prison if “short-timers” sat out their sentences in county jails or were sentenced to other alternatives rather than going to prison.
In February, the Nebraska Department of Corrections joined a national effort called Reentry 2030 with an aim to reduce the state’s recidivism rate from 28% to 18% by 2030. Goals include increasing participation in educational and rehabilitation programs and ensuring job placement once inmates finish their sentence or are paroled.
Another task force member, Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson, said he’s optimistic that effective reforms can be adopted.
He said he would support looking at how Texas handles inmates with short sentences, in state-run “county jails,” and said providing inmates with marketable job skills is key.
“We’re never going to break that cycle of crime unless we give inmates the skills so they can live a life of dignity,” Hanson said.
“Everybody realizes that what we need are more options, both on the front end (probation and diversion) and the back end (parole and post-release supervision),” he said.
Rocky history with reform
Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, who co-chairs the task force with Attorney General Mike Hilgers, said he shares Wayne’s concerns but remains hopeful, despite recent setbacks for sentencing reform proposals.
“It’s the only way I can stay sane,” McKinney said of his optimism. “The data (for sentencing reform) has been there, but people didn’t trust it.”
To be sure, Nebraska’s history with sentencing reform has been rocky.
Two nationally recognized authorities on reducing prison overcrowding, the Justice Center of the Council of State Governments and the nonprofit Crime and Justice Institute, have conducted lengthy studies in recent years, leading to recommended changes in sentences to cut costs and prison crowding.
But many of the recommendations were ultimately rejected by state lawmakers as “soft on crime.”
That has led reform advocates such as McKinney and Wayne to state that without changes, Nebraska will be forced to build another expensive new prison like the 1,500-bed facility now rising just north of Lincoln.
As of this summer, state prisons held about 1,800 more inmates than they were designed to house, and Nebraska continues to have one of the most overcrowded prison systems in the nation.
The latest rejected recommendations, in 2023, led to amending a proposal, Legislative Bill 50, to create the sentencing reform task force. It was charged with devising a “Nebraska way” to reduce prison populations and improve outcomes for inmates released back into society.
The task force took testimony in recent months from state corrections, parole and probation officials, as well as corrections staff, former inmates and victims of crime.
Over 90% will leave prison
Improving reentry success is important because more than 90% of all prison inmates will leave prisons eventually.
Within three years, more than 28% of inmates released will commit new crimes, returning them behind bars, according to the latest state data. This “recidivism rate” has declined from a high of 31% in 2017.
The task force report stated that treating inmates’ mental illnesses remains a huge challenge. The report said approximately 1,709 inmates in Nebraska state prisons — or about 29% of all inmates — have a serious mental health illness, ranging from major depressive disorder and schizophrenia to bipolar disorder.
Improving care, the report said, could help reduce recidivism.
The 16-page task force report recommended a “deep dive” into two areas specifically:
- How to improve success of post-release supervision, such as parole, by providing better quality jobs and housing for departing inmates, as well as preparing them for simple tasks like paying bills and handling leases.
- How to better handle “short-timers,” or inmates serving less than one year in state prison. “This population puts a significant burden” on one of the state’s most overcrowded facilities, the Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln, where short-sentence inmates are held. The RTC, according to the most recent statistics, was holding about 1,477 inmates a night, far beyond its design capacity of 884.
The report recommended looking at alternatives to prison, such as ankle monitors and home confinement, or having people serving their time in county jails.
Hanson said it’s a balancing act: providing rehabilitation for those inmates who truly want to change their lives while protecting the public.
‘A lot of moving parts’
McKinney, who was recently re-elected to a second four-year term in his North Omaha district, said he plans to introduce bills in the 2025 session to “keep alive” a discussion of sentencing reforms.
The task force report stated that once more study is completed, the task force may have proposals to introduce in the 2026 legislative session.
Hanson said sentencing reform is complicated, “with a lot of moving parts,” so it takes time to develop proposals.
McKinney added that extra time may increase understanding of the issues.
“People want to take more time and get to a space where they can understand it,” he said, adding that many of his proposals are “an uphill climb.”
Wayne, who will leave office in January, said he’s not optimistic as he sees the Legislature taking a more “pro-prosecutor” stance.
Lincoln Sen. Carolyn Bosn, a former deputy county attorney, is seen as the probable new chair of the Judiciary Committee, which crafts criminal justice proposals. She would be the first prosecutor to hold that position in recent decades.
Past Judiciary Committee chairs have been defense attorneys, such as Sens. Steve Lathrop, Brad Ashford and Kermit Brashear.
Sen. Bosn did not return phone messages left by the Examiner on Tuesday and Wednesday.