Due to a growing number of prisoners, Nebraska is proposing to reverse last year’s prison cutbacks.
Officials are seeking $5 million to hire new staff and reopen the Omaha Correctional Facility, which was closed after 2011 budget cuts. The state had also eliminated 70 full-time prison jobs.
“While (the department) was able to temporarily close this unit, it cannot remain closed and unoccupied with the increased inmate population,” department officials wrote in a budget request.
The number of prison admissions rose in 2012 from 2,874 to 3,047, The Associated Press reports. In 2010, the average daily population in Nebraska’s prisons was 4,462. The number grew to 4,609 in fiscal year 2012, according to the department.
The growth in prisoners is attributed to longer sentences, which translates to fewer releases offsetting new arrivals.
