Bill would prohibit tools for escape

Bringing prohibited items into a detention facility would become an offense under a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee Feb. 10.

LB415, introduced by Cortland Sen. Norm Wallman, would make it a Class I misdemeanor to bring prohibited items into a detention facility, provide them to an inmate or for an inmate to possess them. Unlawful items can include weapons, tools or anything that could be useful for an inmate to use to escape.

Certain items can be smuggled easily into facilities, Wallman said, and can be a security risk for the facility.

Amber Mulberry, jail director lieutenant for the Gage County Sherriff’s Office, testified in support of the bill.

Mulberry described a case in which an inmate being transported to another facility was found to have a cell phone and an empty pill bottle stored in her body cavity. When a situation like this occurs, she said, staff can be called in for overtime but inmates cannot be charged for violating the rules.

“Most counties are using in-house discipline to deal with these issues because there isn’t a good statute to charge anyone with a crime,” she said.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.