Correctional system reforms passed
Lawmakers approved extensive revisions to Nebraska’s correctional system May 21.
Introduced by Omaha Sen. Heath Mello, LB605 makes numerous changes to Nebraska’s penal system.
The policy changes were recommended to the Nebraska Justice Reinvestment Working Group—created by LB907 in 2014—through a report provided by the Council of State Governments Justice Center. These changes include:
• requiring the Office of Parole Administration to establish a process to determine the risk a parolee may pose to a community and the level of supervision required;
• creating the Committee on Justice Reinvestment Oversight to develop and review Nebraska’s criminal justice policies;
• requiring that all sentences of one year or more be served in a state prison and sentences less than one year be served in a county jail;
• appropriating $30,000 to the Nebraska Supreme Court to create a sentencing information database;
• adding a new felony classification and penalties;
• updating property offense amount thresholds to account for inflation;
• requiring the Board of Parole to create regulations to reduce the number of offenders released from prison without supervision;
• requiring the board and state Department of Correctional Services to annually report the number of offenders on unsupervised release to the Legislature, governor and Supreme Court;
• requiring the department and Probation Administration to prepare a post-release supervision plan for each offender released on probation;
• requiring the department and state court administrator to create regulations regarding restitution payment and requiring the department to report annually to the Legislature on the collection of restitution from inmate wage funds; and
• increasing the maximum compensation from $10,000 to $25,000 allowed from the Victim Compensation Fund.
The bill also addresses how probation violations will be punished, restitution payment rates and how criminal history information will be disseminated.
Courts are required to set maximum and minimum sentence limits provided by the law for all felony classes except Class III, IIIA and IV. For an indeterminate sentence, the court must advise an offender of the minimum imprisonment to be served before attaining parole eligibility and the maximum time to be served prior to mandatory release.
For a determinate sentence, the court must advise an offender of the imprisonment to be served prior to a term of post-release supervision and the length of the supervised term to be served before mandatory release.
Offenders convicted of Class III, IIIA or IV felonies can be imprisoned within the applicable range and serve a sentence of post-release supervision, unless probation is required.
LB605 authorizes the Legislature to appropriate $500,000 to a fund designed for use by county jails to offset costs from potential population increases caused by implementation of LB605. Funds cannot be used for capital construction or the lease or acquisition of facilities.
The bill also incorporated provisions of LB12, introduced by Omaha Sen. Bob Krist, which require the state Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Correctional Services to ensure that a medical assistance program is suspended rather than terminated when an individual enters a public institution.
Senators passed the bill 45-0.
