A bevy of questions and skepticism greeted State Corrections Director Scott Frakes on Friday during an informal briefing on his proposal to build a new $230 million state prison.

Lawmakers from two legislative committees wondered aloud if there weren't better, less-expensive alternatives to the pricey construction project, and whether a new 1,500-bed prison would really solve the state's chronic prison overcrowding.

Sen. Terrell McKinney, who represents north Omaha, asked the director why the state wasn't working on policies that keep people out of prison, rather than pursuing a project to house more inmates. The state should invest in "people rather than prisons," he said.

Frakes said flatly that it's not his job to suggest sentencing reforms or job programs, but to house people deemed too dangerous to be out in society because of the crimes they committed.

"I'm not proposing to build (more) space to house more people in prison," he said. "My role is to manage and run my agency. I don't get into the sentencing side."

In a two-hour presentation to the Judiciary and Appropriations committees, Frakes laid out his case for the maximum-, medium- and minimum-security facility, which would be the state's first new prison in 20 years:

* Nebraska's prison system, the second-most overcrowded system in the country, has been "underbuilt" for four decades, Frakes said. Despite a drop in inmate population because of sentencings delayed by COVID-19, prisons hold about 1,800 more inmates than their design capacity. 

* The state's largest prison, the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, is near the end of its useful life and needs $170 million in upgrades. It makes more financial sense to build a new prison, then convert the penitentiary to a minimum-security facility, Frakes said. Such a conversion would cost only about $15 million. Staffing levels at the penitentiary could be cut in half, reducing staffing expenses at the new prison by about $17 million by transferring some staff from the penitentiary, thereby lowering the number of new staff members that would have to be hired.

* A new prison, likely built somewhere in the Omaha or Lincoln area, would be safer for staff and prisoners and more productive in rehabilitating inmates, thanks to modern security features and more space for programs.

* Nebraska has a low prison incarceration rate, 39th in the country, which doesn't offer much "low-hanging fruit" when it comes to reducing the number of inmates via alternatives such as probation supervision or increased parole, Frakes said.

"I'm here to tell you it's time to invest in a new state prison," he said.

But a handful of senators, including Sen. John Stinner of Gering, who chairs the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, said they will be looking for alternatives, given the state's other spending priorities, such as increased property tax relief and Medicaid expansion.

Sens. Anna Wishart of Lincoln and Tony Vargas of Omaha questioned how some other Midwestern states have seen reductions in their prison populations, while Nebraska's keeps rising. Nebraska was one of only 11 states that saw increases in inmates in 2019, Vargas said.

"It's an excellent question," Frakes responded. He said other states may have higher incarceration rates, thus more leeway to reduce inmate numbers through alternatives.

Projections distributed by the Corrections Department on Friday indicated that Nebraska will have 6,438 prison inmates by the end of 2025 and could have 6,562 prison beds by 2026 if the new prison is built. Wishart said that at the current growth rate in inmates, about 150 a year, the state would be looking at building another new prison in only a couple more years.

"What I see here is that we will be continuing and continuing to spend money" on new prisons, she said.

The prison proposal, which is backed by Gov. Pete Ricketts, will be formally considered for inclusion in the state budget by the Appropriations Committee in the upcoming weeks of the Legislature's session.    

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