Nebraska prison officials say the Nebraska State Penitentiary will return to a normal operational schedule on July 18. The facility has been on a modified, seven-day, 12-hour operational schedule since October 2019, when an emergency staffing declaration was made.
“This is a result of the hiring we have done, not just at NSP, but across the agency since December.” says Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Scott Frakes. “To date, we have onboarded 472 teammates in a variety of job classifications. Of those, 410 are in protective service positions. At the penitentiary, we had 76 vacant protective service positions in December. Today, that number has dropped to just 18 vacancies.”
Frakes says pay increases implemented for represented staff members last year were a game changer, not only in terms of recruiting, but also retaining teammates. “In particular, the negotiations involving the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) certainly altered the trajectory for us as an agency when it came to hiring.”
He says of all team members hired so far, 231 are from 38 other states. “We also have more than 40 people signed up for our new employee training program that will start next week, including several corporals who will be stationed at NSP.”
Returning to a 16-hour operational day means four more hours a day for volunteer programs, recreation and other prosocial activities. “All things that contribute to higher satisfaction and a better quality of life for the inmate population,” Frakes says.
Click here for more details.