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Douglas County Correctional
Center
Douglas County, Nebraska
Correctional Medical Services
March 20, 2006 KETV
A Douglas County correctional employee has filed a formal complaint
against a supervisor alleging that the boss pressures employees into having
home parties to sell sex toys. The formal complaint comes from a medical
clerk at the Douglas County Correctional Center. She alleges sexual
harassment and a hostile work environment caused by some managers in her
department. Specifically, the medical clerk alleges that one of the
supervisors "solicits and coerces staff into attending and hosting
parties that sell sex toys." Attached to her complaint is a product
preview catalog with a Web site, which describes the so-called "slumber
parties" and the sex toys available. The clerk addressed her complaint
to Correctional Medical Services, or CMS, of St. Louis. That is the company
contracted by Douglas County to provide medical care at the DCCC. Douglas
County Corrections director Robert Patton said that whether it's sex toys or
Girl Scout cookies, if a boss pressures an employee to buy or sell any item,
it's inappropriate. Patton said he doesn't have direct control over the
investigation because medical employees are contracted. Patton said he has
discussed the matter with CNS of St. Louis. He said he'll stay apprised of
the investigation and possible disciplinary actions. Calls to Correctional
Medical Services were not returned.
Hall County Corrections
Hall, Nebraska
Corplan
June 4, 2003
At the same time Hall County is trying to decide whether a new county jail
should be funded publicly or privately, Grand Island Area Economic
Development Corp. President Monty Montgomery is working for a private prison
firm -- the same firm he recommended to Hall County supervisors.
"I have a debt of honor to them," Montgomery said of Corplan Corrections of Argyle, Texas. "I do it on my
own time, and I don't do it on business time." Montgomery first
introduced Corplan Corrections to the Hall County
Board of Supervisors in 2001, after starting work as president of the Grand
Island Area Economic Development Corp. that July. That same year, he also
arranged and accompanied four supervisors on a tour of a 1,097-bed jail Corplan worked on in Garza County, Texas, just southeast
of Lubbock. Corplan worked on a similar but
smaller 548-bed jail in Haskell, Texas, where Montgomery was then economic
development director. Montgomery said it was that association with Corplan officials, a more than four-year effort, that led to his "debt of honor."
Because Corplan worked with Haskell for no pay for
four years before the community finally settled on and constructed the
privately funded jail, Montgomery feels a need to return the
commitment. "I'm helping friends of mine," Montgomery said of
why he represents Corplan County supervisors
most recently toured jails in Kansas and Iowa in pursuit of construction and
operational ideas. However, the county is awaiting an attorney general's
opinion on whether a private jail is even a legal option for the
county. Besides pitching Corplan Corrections
to Hall County, Montgomery has also represented the firm to Huron, S.D.,
which is considering a jail there. (The Independent)
March 12, 2003
A dozen Hall county corrections staff members listened on Tuesday as the
spokesman of a national organization opposing private jails and prisons told
the Hall County Board of Supervisors why such facilities pose a threat to the
public, jail staff and inmates. "I think it hit the nail on the
head," Hall County corrections Cpl. Tom Hansen said of the
presentation. "They are unsafe entity and are unsafe in your
community," Brian Dawe, executive director of
Corrections USA, told the board about private jails. In a passionate
and well-rehearsed 20-minute presentation, Dawe
cited studies from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service
and academicians detailing that private prisons cost more and have more
escapes, riots and assaults that publicly run jails. "Our concern
is the operator -- are we government employees or private company
employees?" Hansen told The Independent. "We're not about to
jeopardize our homes and property." (The Independent)
Nebraska
Legislature
May 13, 2005 Journal Star
The Hastings Correctional Center, scheduled to close June 1, could not be
sold or leased to a private company and used to house prisoners for cities,
counties or other states, according to an attorney general's opinion. State
Sen. Carroll Burling of Kenesaw requested the
opinion in an effort to explore ways to keep the facility open. Thursday's
opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General Lynn Melson,
said a 2001 law allows private prisons in Nebraska but only those that
contract with the state. The state has no such plans for the Hastings
facility, said Steven King, spokesman for the Department of Correctional
Services. The law also does not allow counties and cities to contract with
private prisons, the opinion said. It also precludes private companies from
opening facilities to house inmates from other states.
January 23, 2003
Nebraska counties aren't authorized to
have a private contractor build or operate a private county jail, a
legal opinion from the Nebraska attorney general said. Specifically, the Nov.
5, 2002, opinion interpreting the Private Prison Contracting Act said the act
"does not authorize a county or other political subdivision to enter
into a contract with a private prison contractor to construct or operate a
correctional facility within or on behalf of such county or other political
subdivision." That language was
included in the act by its sponsor, state Sen. DiAnna
Schimek of Lincoln, to specify that a private
prison has to be done through the state and with the approval of the
Department of Corrections, the opinion said.
But state Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island, who requested the attorney
general's opinion, said he doesn't think it should prohibit Hall County's
pursuit of a private county jail -- for two reasons. "In my opinion,
it's not going to be a problem for Hall County to proceed with where it's
going," Aguilar said. Where Hall
County is headed is receiving proposals from private contractors to build
and/or operate a new county jail. (The Independent)
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