LINCOLN — As a former Girl Scout, State Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete says it’s imperative to “be prepared.”
And when it comes to Nebraska’s overcrowded prison system, that means requiring some planning by state officials to prepare for the possible forced release of hundreds of prison inmates in 2020.
“The department (of Corrections) is trying to make steps in the right direction, but I think they need support,” Ebke said.
The state’s prison system — the second-most-overcrowded system in the country — not only faces a federal civil rights lawsuit, but also a July 2020 deadline to reduce the overcrowding to 140 percent of design capacity.
Right now, the prisons are at 155 percent of capacity and hold about 1,900 more inmates than they were designed to hold. An attempt at reducing overcrowding via sentencing reform hasn’t produced results as predicted, increasing the possibility of a state-law required “overcrowding emergency” in 2020.
Ebke, who heads the legislative panel that oversees Corrections, joined some other senators Wednesday on the Judiciary Committee in expressing support for bills that would mandate more preparation by state prison officials.
Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha, who is mounting a third-party bid for governor, compared the current readiness to a student cramming, at the last minute, for an exam.
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