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| Nebraska Explores Cheaper Alternatives to Prison |
| By Omaha World-Herald |
| Published: 01/13/2003 |
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To slow the growth of a mushrooming inmate population, a task force has recommended that Nebraska divert more nonviolent offenders from state prisons. Key to the plan delivered to the governor recently is developing a system of 'community corrections' - sanctions like halfway houses and substance-abuse treatment centers that would fill the gap between prison and traditional probation. That would give judges more sentencing options for low-level offenders, reducing the number taking up expensive beds in the prison system, while still protecting the public. 'I believe if this plan is successful, it will be the difference in keeping us from having to build a new prison in five years for $125 million,' said State Sen. Kermit Brashear of Omaha, who headed the task force. 'There are much less expensive alternatives that have proven effective across the country.' Just within the past year, the state opened a 960-bed maxi-mum-security prison in Tecumseh, spending $73 million to build it. But inmate numbers continue to climb in the wake of 1990s laws that cracked down on crime. The total inmate population topped 4,000 in 2002 and is projected to approach 5,000 within four years. Absent building new prisons or making other changes to reduce overcrowding, Nebraska could be open to federal lawsuits and court-imposed remedies. Gov. Mike Johanns, who appointed the task force two years ago, has yet to see its work but has generally voiced support for finding less costly ways to deal with offenders. 'The report is another important step away from costly brick and mortar and toward less-costly and more-effective community-based programming,' said Johanns spokesman Chris Peterson. State lawmakers, who will be back in session next week dealing with a two-year budget gap of nearly $675 million, also appear open to the plan. In a pre-session survey by The World-Herald, 40 of the 49 lawmakers supported diverting nonviolent offenders facing brief prison sentences into community programs. |
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