Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts says The Department of Correctional Services is working to improve the prison system…and crack down on staff members who smuggle contraband to inmates.
A staff member was arrested after an investigation into how synthetic marijuana was smuggled into the State Penitentiary in Lincoln. . .

Ricketts says the biggest step toward improvement is offering bonuses of 25-Hundred dollars to new hires for the state’s two maximum security prisons, which should alleviate staff shortages. . .

Ricketts says a push to hire more prison officers this month should cut the need for overtime. The Department of Correctional Services estimates the state can save 13-Thousand dollars a year for each vacancy it fills.