LINCOLN- Despite a slew of changes made over the years to the Nebraska state prison system's salaries and hiring bonuses, staffing issues still plague many of the state's prisons, according to an annual report issued by Inspector General for Corrections Doug Koebernick. While vacancies and turnover of corrections officers have improved over the years, recent increases in these two categories drew concerns from the watchdog office created by the Nebraska Legislature.

"Retention must be a critical focus going forward, particularly as other states and agencies raise their own correctional salaries," said the report. A state Corrections spokeswoman said that staff vacancies have been fluctuating over the years, despite upward trends in recent months. "There is some up and down movement with that number based on team member movements internally and externally and our hiring," said Deputy Director of Corrections Renee Smith.

Statistics from the Inspector General's office illustrate these claims, showing that staff turnover has increased from 268 to 295 between 2022 and 2023, and vacancies from 359 in March to 377 in June of 2023. Koebernick highlighted the Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln, a prison that merged several years ago after operating separately as the Lincoln Correctional Center and Diagnostic and Evaluation Center, as having particularly pressing staffing issues. "They're very worried about the facility," Koebernick said of it.

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