LINCOLN- Officials from Waverly, Wahoo, Ashland and Fremont have been approached about building a 1,600 bed, $250 million prison in their towns. The process is already underway, state officials just need to find a willing host. Local hosts say there is not enough information on the prison for them to feel comfortable with commenting fully on the situation.

The Department of Corrections made a formal request for information from private contractors for building a prison that is double the size of the state's current largest prison in Tecumseh. Officials say they need to build the prison in an area where it will be easy to find close to 500 people to adequately staff the prison.

"The corrections director said the state is still 'crunching numbers' to determine whether the state would finance a prison in the traditional way, by allocating $250 million, or opt for a lease-purchase arrangement, in which Nebraska would pay perhaps $20 million a year to lease a prison built by a private contractor. The state would own the facility at the end of the lease period, spreading out the expense."

Nebraska ranks 2nd highest in prison overcrowding in the country.

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