Department of Correctional Services projects running at full steam, despite state budget cuts

Projects and programs within the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services are going full steam ahead, according to correctional officials, despite an ongoing state budget crisis.

But the ICE detention facility in McCook stands apart after its educational programs for incarcerated individuals were cut.

The department holds a unique position among state agencies after Gov. Jim Pillen called for more budget cuts under an ever-growing state budget deficit. The department is allowed to fill and hire correctional officers, but otherwise, it will also have to adhere to Pillen's current hiring freeze. Along with other state agencies, it also must cut its budget by 5% under Pillen’s order.

Dayne Urbanovsky, director of strategic communications with corrections, said despite the cuts, the department has no plans to cut programs or projects.

“NDCS is committed to working with the Governor’s office to identify savings that will not impact our people and programming,” Urbanovsky wrote.

In fact, multiple projects are in full swing. For example, the former Work Ethic Camp facility in McCook has enough beds for 200 people, according to the Department of Correctional Services, even though its most recent survey noted that its population of 184 exceeded the operational capacity of 125 in 2025 by 47%.

Since then, Immigration and Customs Enforcement signed a contract with the state allowing it to use the facility for a detention center. In its contract with the Department of Correctional Services, ICE states that the department must offer 300 male and female beds and that 300 beds is the facility’s capacity.

State Sen. Margo Juarez, who represents parts of Omaha, visited the ICE detention center in McCook on March 27.

“They’re definitely doing a lot of construction,” Juarez said.

Urbanovsky wrote that construction is expected to wrap up this summer to increase the McCook facility capacity.

Juarez said the room that used to operate as a classroom looks as though it is being turned into a dormitory to accommodate the extra 100 beds. While the Mid-Plains Community College used to offer incarcerated people in McCook classes, ranging from electrical skills to heavy equipment operation to CPR, college staff have confirmed that those programs are discontinued.

Juarez added that the construction includes isolation chambers for detainees, but that her questions about this and other aspects of the facility have gone unanswered by corrections leadership.

“I actually would like to have more accountability of how they use those rooms with the detainees,” Juarez said. “And if we're going to have data available, such as who's going in it, how long they're being housed in the units so I can get an idea of the frequency and what is the reason that someone is housed in the room.”

While ICE detention centers, based on language in the contract with Nebraska’s correctional department, are only intended to ensure immigrants’ presence for administrative hearings and ensure their removal from the country, Juarez said based on her understanding of operations in McCook that many detainees have been kept for months on end.

“They don’t know when people are actually going to be sent out,” Juarez said. “And that’s another story that I’m going to try to get more details about because I have been told that sometimes, they are just being dropped off. They might not be treated properly by patrol officers.”

Pillen’s office claimed last year that federal use of the facility will save the state money. A one-time allocation of just under $5.9 million is supposed to cover expansion costs, and ICE is paying $2.53 million to the state each year, or about $277 per detainee. State officials estimated the state will receive around $14.25 each year, even after increasing staff.

Meanwhile, the state is spending $312 million on a new prison in Lincoln, intended to replace the aging Nebraska State Penitentiary. The latest updates state that construction is on track to finish as scheduled in the fall of 2028. Currently, the Department of Correctional Services houses 5,711 inmates, according to the third quarter population summary from the department. The new facility will add 1,512 beds.

“It is forecasted to be overcrowded the day that it opens,” State Sen. Terrell McKinney, also representing parts of Omaha, said. “Although it was sold as a replacement prison to deal with overcrowding.”

Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Rob Jeffreys said earlier this year that the state is ranked first in the nation for overcrowded prisons. He added that projections only show that problem worsening over time. McKinney said programs to help prevent recidivism and support a successful return home for incarcerated people are essential to helping lower the system’s population.

“If we want people to come back home and be better and not return back to prison, then we have to have adequate and effective programming,” McKinney said. “Not just putting people in rooms and saying we provided them programming. It should actually be effective and work for people.”

Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect the correct expected completion date of the new prison north of Lincoln. This story was also updated to reflect the fact that NDCS must follow the state's hiring freeze but can hire and fill correctional officer positions.