Editor’s note: Flatwater Explains is an occasional series during which FFP reporters explain the people, places and things that make Nebraska what it is while answering questions that both longtime residents and first-time visitors might have.
When it opened in 2001, Nebraska’s prison in Tecumseh was the largest in the state, built in part to house the state’s most dangerous inmates. But staffing woes have long plagued the prison that sits over an hour from the state’s largest population centers.
How did it end up in rural southeast Nebraska in the first place?
Why did Nebraska decide to build a new prison?
It was 1997, and Nebraska’s prisons were urgently overcrowded, operating at 154% of their capacity, then-Corrections Director Harold Clarke told the Nebraska Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.
Crime rates had fallen, he said, but tough-on-crime policy changes had extended prison stays. In order to hold 411 inmates in one facility built for 160, Clarke said, men were sleeping on cots in hallways and stairwells. Federal courts had warned that the state was “dangerously close to being unconstitutional,” he said.
A strategic plan had recommended a new prison, and Democratic Gov. Ben Nelson had made its construction a priority in his budget. The Legislature passed a bill authorizing a 960-bed, medium-maximum security prison with a total cost of up to about $74 million.
How did the state decide on Tecumseh for the new prison?
The new law provided for the director of Corrections to evaluate “various site proposals” for “cost effectiveness.” A four-member site-selection committee appointed by Nelson first considered pitches from communities across Nebraska.
There was a national trend toward locating prisons in rural areas where land was plentiful and more affordable, according to news coverage, and the prospect of an economic shot in the arm was tantalizing to areas stretching from Scottsbluff to Falls City, from McCook to Norfolk.
Neither Omaha nor Lincoln showed any interest, according to Omaha World-Herald archives, but about 34 other communities did.
Eventually, the committee narrowed the list to six — Grand Island, McCook, North Platte, Tecumseh, Madison and Scottsbluff — then required more information in a second round before winnowing it to two, according to The World-Herald: Tecumseh, population 1,700 in southeast Nebraska, and McCook, population 8,100 in southwest Nebraska. McCook narrowly received more points from the committee.
| Facility | Address | City |
|---|---|---|
| Community Corrections Center – Lincoln | 2720 W Van Dorn St | Lincoln |
| Community Corrections Center – Omaha | 2320 Avenue J | Omaha |
| Nebraska Correctional Center for Women | 1107 Recharge Rd | York |
| Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility | 2610 N 20th St E | Omaha |
| Nebraska State Penitentiary | 4201 S 14th St | Lincoln |
| Omaha Correctional Center | 2323 Avenue J | Omaha |
| Reception and Treatment Center | 3218 West Van Dorn Street | Lincoln |
| Tecumseh State Correctional Institution | 2725 Hwy 50 | Tecumseh |
| Work Ethic Camp | 2309 N Hwy 83 | McCook |
Late in the process, one committee member accused another of having a conflict of interest. Members disagreed over whether distance to Lincoln should be a factor. And Nelson, a McCook native, made comments suggesting McCook should come out on top and requested a delay of the final announcement, leading to allegations of political intervention, which Nelson denied.
Clarke ultimately chose Tecumseh, citing its economy, available workers and community support, according to The World-Herald.
Why did Tecumseh want the prison?
In the late 1990s, the economy in Tecumseh was struggling, and the area had one of the state’s highest unemployment rates. The Campbell Soup Co. had recently closed shop, cutting hundreds of jobs, according to The World-Herald.
The prison meant hundreds of new, solid jobs, a nearly $14 million payroll and a big construction project.
Representatives from Pawnee, Johnson, Richardson and Nemaha counties had voted to band together in support of Tecumseh as the region’s proposed site. It garnered broad community support at a public hearing and letters of support from nine area counties, according to news coverage.
The prison in Tecumseh started accepting inmates in 2001.
