New report blames five employees for prison miscalculations
Posted By: Camila Orti
An investigative report released by a Lincoln law firm says the prison miscalculation mishap can be pegged on five Dept. of Corrections employees.
The 144-page report is one of several investigations into the NDCS (Nebraska Department of Correctional Services) launched following the early release of hundreds of inmates. The state hired law firm Jackson Lewis back in July. Their detailed report breaks down errors made by the NDCS that led to the sentence miscalculations, even after a 2013 Supreme Court decision outlined exactly how to do it.
After interviewing employees and going through department emails, the report puts most of the blame on former top lawyer George Green, who retired in August under threat of being fired, and current records administrator Kyle Poppert who was suspended.
“I’m not an attorney so my role in this was to discuss with our legal counsel and get an interpretation from them,” Poppert said in his testimony to lawmakers last week.
Poppert was one of several to testify in front of a special legislative committee last Thursday. He told lawmakers Green told him to keep doing what they’ve been doing.
“His advice was that we’re not a party of this case, the Supreme Court has not directed us to do anything,” he said.
Green testified at that same hearing that he didn’t even read the court’s ruling. The report says Green took no action, even after being notified of the problem.
In an October meeting, legal counsel concluded they’d “act when we are specifically told our current way is wrong.”
Other employees mentioned in the report, like Jeannene Douglass, also testified before the committee. Pointing fingers seemed to be the trend.
“Normal procedure is I forward it on to my supervisor and legal and I went ahead with daily business until further directed,” Douglass said.
Douglass is one of five employees the report says violated state personnel rules. It goes on to mention that prisons director Michael Kenney and former director Bob Houston were not to blame.
The Nebraska State Patrol is conducting a criminal investigation. In addition, lawmakers have another investigative hearing next week.
