By Grant Schulte
Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. — The escape of two dangerous inmates from a Nebraska prison highlights larger problems in the corrections department that have not been addressed, lawmakers said Thursday as they called on Gov. Pete Ricketts to approve emergency funding to hire more COs.
Members of a legislative oversight committee sent the letter after a hearing that focused on recurring problems in the Department of Correctional Services.
“I think this is one of the symptoms of a stressed system,” said Sen. Kate Bolz of Lincoln.
Several senators said during the hearing that the department is flailing because of staffing shortages, overcrowding and a lack of pay increases based on seniority. The department has struggled with employee turnover because of excessive overtime, the high-pressure environment and better-paying jobs at county jails.
“We are overextending the staff,” the 11-member committee said in its letter. “We’re putting them at greater risk, and putting our community at greater risk.”
Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage said the inmates escaped because staff members failed to follow security procedures. The prison was fully staffed at the time of the escape, and neither of the employees that failed to follow procedures was on overtime, he said.
Corrections director Scott Frakes told the committee that several employees have been pulled from their regular duties after inmates Armon Dixon and Timothy Clausen escaped Friday from the Lincoln Correctional Center. Dixon was recaptured on Saturday after allegedly assaulting two women in Lincoln, and Clausen was arrested in Omaha on Wednesday night. Authorities say Clausen had a loaded handgun and was planning a robbery.
Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus voiced frustration with Frakes, saying the department hasn’t yet provided a cost estimate or a plan for addressing the problems.
He said Frakes appears to be stalling. “It’s time now to give us straight talk as to how much you’re going to need,” Schumacher said.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha called on Ricketts to fire Frakes, pointing to Frakes’ testimony from an April committee hearing in which he said that letting multiple inmates escape could be grounds to fire an employee.
“This department is drifting just like in the past, but it’s worse” because it has failed to learn from previous mistakes, Chambers said.
Frakes said employees have a right to a “fair and just” review of the incident before the department imposes discipline. The corrections director said he plans to submit a two-year budget proposal to the governor by mid-September, but noted that his requests will compete with those from other state agencies.
Also Thursday, the corrections department announced that a warden and assistant warden from Virginia will lead an independent investigation into the escape to determine what went wrong. Frakes has said at least two prison employees failed to follow security procedures that would have prevented Dixon and Clausen from sneaking onto a laundry truck and punching a hole in the roof once it was outside the prison walls.
Nebraska State Ombudsman Marshall Lux said the department is still falling short in its efforts to address employee retention, which has resulted in less experienced staff members handling some of the state’s most dangerous prisoners. A department survey of employees released this month shows that prison workers want higher pay, safer work conditions and better communication with top administrators.
“I do not believe that reassigning a warden and firing a few employees at the Lincoln Correctional Center is going to solve the problem” Lux said. “The problem is much bigger than that.”
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press