The Director of an adult detention center in KOTA Territory weighs-in on possible solutions to Nebraska's overcrowded prisons.
The state of Nebraska's nine prisons are currently at 145% capacity.
Nebraska Legislators will meet with state corrections officials soon to discuss ways to reduce those numbers.
42% of Nebraska's inmates are in prison for major crimes like murder, but the rest are serving time for less severe offenses.
Scotts Bluff Adult Detention Center Director Ron Johns says there are people in prison who probably shouldn't be locked up.
It costs just under $30,000 a year to house an inmate.
Johns says a new prison is not the answer, and that the issue of prison overcrowding is a mind set we have to change.
"It's just the nature of the beast, if we don't do something it's not going to get better," says Johns. "And I don't think building bigger and more, you know, is the answer. We've got to attack it a different way."
Johns thinks the state should offer more programs like Day Reporting, where people can go to learn skills and take drug and alcohol rehabilitation classes following their release from jail.
