LINCOLN- In 2021, the Nebraska Legislature appropriated money to the Department of Corrections to build a 'halfway back house,' a structured environment for parole violators who will not go back to prison.

Later that same year, legislators also mandated a comprehensive facilities study to determine the safety of Nebraska prisons and the health of inmates.

And, way back in 2015, the Nebraska Legislature told the Department of Corrections to build a new electronic medical records tracking system.

To the dismay of state Sen. Steve Lathrop, none of these were ever produced or fully implemented. At a Judiciary Committee hearing this week, Sen. Lathrop said that the radio silence from the Department of Corrections was concerning. "The willingness to ignore what we have required in legislation is concerning," said the Senator.

Sen. Lathrop went on to suggest that the Department was intentionally ignoring the orders of the Legislature, and claimed, alongside several other Senators, that this is why Nebraska has such high overcrowding rates. "Quite frankly, not much has changed," said state Sen. Adam Morfeld during the hearing.

Because Director Scott Frakes left earlier this month, it was up to interim Director Diane Sabatka-Rine to answer the Legislature's questions. Despite criticism from the Judiciary Committee on the Department's lack of action, Sabatka-Rine claimed that they've made "meaningful change" to the Nebraska prison system.

The interim Director also claimed that the facilities study will be conducted by the end of the year, and that the inmate classification study will be done by March. "I think we can continue to improve the quality of life in many respects for our population," stated Sabatka-Rine.

Sabatka-Rine stated during the hearing that she'd be interested in becoming full-time Director, and said that the Department plans on strengthening its relations with the Legislature with the introduction of the new governor.

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