FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (18-08)

CONTACT Dawn-Renee Smith, Communications Director

OFFICE 402-479-5713 | dawnrenee.smith@nebraska.gov

​February 1, 2018 (Lincoln, Neb.) – Today, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) and the Nebraska Board of Parole (Board) filed the 2018 Discharge Report (attached). The report is required, by state statute, to describe the percentage of individuals who complete their entire NDCS sentence and are released with no supervision.

The report boasts a 21 percent decrease in mandatory discharges and a 24 percent increase in releases with supervision.  A total of 485 individuals discharged without supervision and 218 of those had been on parole and returned to prison at least once during this incarceration.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” Director Scott R. Frakes said. “A period of supervised release can improve the transition from prison to the community and, together, we have made significant efforts toward increasing those opportunities.”

In the last two years, both agencies have successfully adopted and implemented a wide range of evidence-based practices that are producing positive outcomes in terms of institutional programming and community supervision. The use of a risk/needs assessment, decision-making guidelines, and a new set of sanctions and incentives (including custodial sanctions) are all projected to make it possible to parole more individuals.

“These practices generate effective programming that is carried through from the institution to the community, reduce the need for revocations of parole, and continue to preserve public safety,” Chairperson Roslyn Cotton said. “Implementing solutions that increase public safety is our highest priority.”

Both agencies are committed to collaborated efforts to implement strategies to maximize the number of individuals discharging with community supervision.

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