Advocates aim to stop Nebraska officials from relocating juveniles in correctional system

By Noelle Annonen , Multimedia Reporter

March 10, 2026, 4 p.m. ·

Youth advocates call on lawmakers to stop a measure that would reorganize the juvenile detention system. (Noelle Annonen/Nebraska Public Media news)

Listen To This Story

Advocates are calling on lawmakers to stop a proposal that would shuffle around children in the state’s correctional system. They worry this will disrupt education and rehabilitation efforts for the youth.

The change was proposed by Gov. Jim Pillen’s administration in his budget bills introduced in January. If passed, the measure would relocate the inhabitants of every significant youth correctional facility to a new building, including some youths slated to go to an adult prison.

Activists say that youths who are moved to a new facility will have to create a whole new support group of trusted therapists and educators in order to fully recover and rejoin society when they grow up. High schoolers from Omaha, like Ta’Miyah Wright, stress that the youth in the correctional system are not adults, they are just teenagers.

“The difference is that they are going through some of the hardest moments of their lives while also being separated from home and living in a locked facility,” Wright said.

Activists argue that the move is happening too quickly and will upend the lives of children in the system who will lose access to resources like education. They added that the initiative rushes a process that needs more time and attention, and call for lawmakers to instead fund a study into how best to make any changes to the system. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Kathryn Bigsby Moore said she has been advocating for Nebraska’s youths for decades.

“I have seen a number of debacles and I do think this might be among the least thought out proposals that I’ve experienced,” Bigsby Moore said.

Lawmakers will be voting on the proposal in the coming weeks as the legislative session draws to a close.