Record Mishap at Department of Corrections Fixed

Nearly 140 inmates in the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) will receive notice of updates to their records to reflect disciplinary sanctions that were previously ordered but not applied. The discrepancy was discovered through an internal review.

NDCS Director Scott R. Frakes emphasized that the issue at hand was not a calculation error, and did not impact court-ordered sentences. Rather, it affected the amount of good time deducted from sentences as a result of violations that happened during incarceration.

“Loss of good time is one of the sanctions authorized by the department when an inmate commits an infraction, like use of drugs, possession of contraband, assault or other behaviors that are prohibited. Those are days that can be assessed against the inmate’s tentative release date,” said Frakes.

The amount of time assessed for these sanctions ranged from 15 days to 180 days, depending on the nature of the misconduct.

The recently discovered discrepancy was found to impact rule violations that occurred as far back as 10 years ago. During this time frame, 204 sanctions were incorrectly recorded. This is out of over 15,000 good time sanctions recorded.

“Forty-five individuals got out earlier than they would have, if the sanction had been properly entered,” said Frakes. “We have taken appropriate steps to assure that this does not occur going forward.”