CHRIS DUNKER
Lincoln Journal Star, Neb.
LINCOLN, Neb. — Employees of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services racked up more than $22 million in overtime pay last year, according to a report issued by State Auditor Mike Foley.
In the report published Monday, Foley said overtime pay at the state prison system jumped $3 million over two years ago despite increased state funding for recruiting and retaining qualified employees.
“Experienced correctional guards can earn over $150,000 annually in wages, overtime, and compensatory time, with the highest-paid guard earning over $205,000 last year — more than certain physicians and dentists received while employed by the department,” the report stated.
While full-time employment for the department equals 2,080 work hours per year, the auditor found “it is not unusual” for employees to work an additional 1,000-2,000 hours.
According to Foley, more than 250 employees of the Department of Corrections logged 500 hours or more of overtime last year. In total, 2,149 employees worked more than 477,000 hours of overtime.
Employees at the Reception and Treatment Center received $7.5 million in overtime pay last year, the report indicated, while staff at the Nebraska State Penitentiary earned $4.7 million in overtime and staff at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution made $4.5 million.
In addition to running up the cost to the department, Foley said the additional overtime hours could be “potentially detrimental to the safety of both facility staff and inmates.”
The department, in a response, said it “closely reviews all overtime and compensatory time paid to its employees” on a monthly basis — sometimes more frequently.
“While overtime expenditures have decreased from the previous year, overtime is necessary if the required number of team members are not available to continue to protect the incarcerated population, team members, and the public,” the department said.
The audit also found correctional staff were using paid leave to be paid more than 40 hours for a work week. For example, employees who worked 36 hours in four days and opted to take the fifth day off were being paid for eight hours of leave, resulting in four hours of overtime pay.
The department overpaid workers by 3,403 hours last year, which is equal to $105,000.
The issue was initially identified by the auditor’s office in the 2013-14 fiscal year, when the department overpaid employees by $1 million, Foley said, with no corrective action having been taken since.
“This is a perfect example of what can happen when audit findings are ignored,” Foley said. “This type of waste has likely been occurring for, at least, each year since the problem was revealed in 2014.
“The $105,000 found this year is certainly an improvement,” he added. “However, if that same lesser amount were lost during each of the preceding nine years, the result would be another $945,000 frittered away needlessly.”
The department indicated it made changes to how it calculates paid leave that occurred after the period covered by the audit but before the audit took place.
Other findings in the audit report include:
* The Department of Correctional Services failed to deduct the proper amount of inmates’ wages earned to defray the cost of room and board, clothing, medical and dental expenses as required by state law.
According to the report, the department undercharged inmates by at least $310,000 for those expenses after failing to apply the correct daily rate.
An appendix to the report found that the top 25 incarcerated earners made more than $1.1 million in 2023, but paid just $86,027 in maintenance fees, roughly 7.7% of their collective income.
Some inmates paid as little as 5% of their earnings to defray the cost of incarcerating them, while one paid more than 11%.
* Auditors found the department failed to properly credit more than a half-million dollars of income earned by inmates to the proper accounts. The money was deposited in a state bank account but not transferred to the accounts of inmates who earned it.
The report indicates the department had made some progress in rectifying the issue, but noted more than $307,000 of inmate earnings have yet to be credited to the proper accounts.
Of the 10 inmates with the highest uncredited balances, nine of those are no longer incarcerated and were paroled without having the money put into their account.
* The report also said lax oversight of inmate debit card usage allowed some individuals on work release to have their accounts loaded with as much as $21,000 — well over the $100 stated in the rules.
During 2023, the department transferred more than $3.4 million onto inmate debit cards, which can be used for minor purchases while on work release or during a 48-hour furlough.
One inmate’s debit card was used to make purchases of $3,200 at clothing and retail stores, gas stations, restaurants and movie theaters.
Another used the card to make $9,860 in cash-back transactions and ATM withdrawals during a three-month stretch.
“Let’s apply some common sense here,” Foley said. “While some debit card purchases by inmates may be legitimate, it is imperative that they be monitored, and all cash-back and ATM withdrawals must be highly scrutinized, if for no other reason than to ensure that the funds are not used for criminal purposes.”
The department said it would be reviewing its processes and procedures to identify potential efficiencies for the debit card program.
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