LINCOLN — A change of heart by Lincoln’s mayor and complaints by nearby residents led Wednesday to an agreement to move the location of a planned, 1,500-bed state prison.
The new location is a plot of 300 acres of farmland owned by the City of Lincolns east of the Lincoln city landfill, and just north of Interstate 80 — a site detailed in an Examiner story on Tuesday.
Gov. Jim Pillen, at a news conference, said that the site, between 70th and 84th Streets and north of McKelvie Road, was his preferred site all along.
‘Circumstances changed’
But, he said, after being told by Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird in May that she didn’t want a prison in Lincoln and didn’t want to sell that property, the state announced Aug. 18 that it had purchased 305 acres east of Lincoln, at 112th and Adams Streets.
Gaylor Baird said the city didn’t want to sell the landfill site because the city had plans to use it for recycling programs and for future expansion of the landfill, which sits just northeast of the U.S. Highway 77/I-80 interchange.
But the mayor said once it was clear the state wanted to locate the new prison — a replacement for the State Penitentiary in Lincoln — in the city, she had a change of heart.
“Circumstances changed,” Gaylor Baird said. “It’s the better location for our community.”
Said Pillen, “I’m very grateful that you changed your mind.”
At the news conference, the two leaders signed an agreement to swap the two properties and cooperate in providing utilities to the new prison.
Gaylor Baird said Wednesday that the city might someday do another land swap on the property at 112th and Adams, which she said has been identified in the Lincoln master plans as an area for residential growth.
The initial selection of the 112th and Adams site caught Lincoln officials by surprise and sparked complaints from nearby residents and a threat of lawsuits.
Lincoln, a community of 293,000, has begun growing eastward toward that area in recent years with the construction of a Wal-Mart two miles to the west, at 84th and Adams, and development of homes and townhomes closer to the prison site. An East Bypass freeway is in the plans in the vicinity.
Pillen, when asked Wednesday, denied that the state had picked a controversial site to “light a fire” with city officials to push them to change their minds about providing the city-owned site by the landfill for the new prison.
“We believe that we both win,” Gaylor Baird said of the state and the city. She added that she hoped it would lead to future cooperation between the two entities.
Pillen said the state will complete the $17 million purchase of the land to be swapped with the city and does not expect the exchange will increase the cost or delay construction of the new prison.
Construction to begin in 2024
Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 202, and be completed by the first half of 2027, according to Rob Jeffreys, who was selected by Pillen in April to be the state’s corrections director.
Lincoln City Council member James Michael Bowers, who represents northeast Lincoln, said he was grateful that the desires of his constituents — who had urged the change of sites — had been heard.
But, he said, he still wants to know what other locations in Lincoln were considered and why the state didn’t pick a site it already owns, thus saving taxpayer funds for other priorities, such as rehabilitation programs for inmates.
“That doesn’t mean this was the perfect location,” Bowers said.
State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, whose district extended to the 112th and Adams site, said the location next to the landfill is a “better location.”
A win-win
“It is a win-win for everybody,” Clements said.
Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad also expressed gratitude that the city and state were willing to negotiate for a better location for the prison.
But, she added, she hopes that the state will pursue lower-cost, and more effective, alternatives to building new prisons — “smart justice” reforms like intense supervision on parole or probation.
Pillen said Lincoln became his top choice for the new prison because the workforce already existed at the State Penitentiary. He said that 70 locations were initially considered, including some in Omaha.
The state recently reported some progress in addressing a years-long challenge in fully staffing Nebraska prisons after steep increases in pay were approved.
Staff turnover in 2022 was 16%, a corrections spokeswoman said, and is projected to be 17% this year. Only a couple of years ago, turnover was topping 25%.
State may need two prisons
Two state prisons, the Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln and the Tecumseh State Prison, remain under staffing emergencies, requiring 12-hour shifts to fill posts and some restrictions on activities and out-of-cell time for inmates.
In addition, Nebraska’s prisons are among the most overcrowded in the nation, holding nearly 1,800 more inmates than they were designed to house.
As of Aug. 2, corrections had 367 vacant positions, up from 333 in February, and each day, about 80 workers are bused from Omaha to fill posts at the rural prison in Tecumseh. Nursing and other health care jobs have been among the hardest to fill.
Jeffreys has said the new prison should help somewhat, because it will hold about 300 more inmates than the State Pen now holds, and that his agency will do everything he can to address the crowding.
But a recent projection by a prison consultant concluded that by 2030 Nebraska may need two new prisons, rather than just one, based on the increase in new inmates.
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