a new, $230 million prison to address chronic capacity issues among existing facilities.
Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Scott Frakes on Monday submitted an adjustment to the agency’s biennium budget that would include funding to support the siting and construction of a 1,512-bed correctional facility. With an initial footprint of 450,000 square feet, the facility would support 600 minimum, 512 medium and 400 maximum custody beds, with room to allow for future expansion at a base cost of $230 million.
Calling the project a “necessary next step,” Dir. Frakes said construction of a new facility will ensure capacity needs continue to be met within Nebraska’s correctional system. “Experts say the state’s prison population will keep growing. Not only that, but we are confronted with an inability to expand existing facilities and an aging infrastructure at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.”