Senator Bob Krist calls for the termination of Prison Director Scott Frakes

Posted By: Pierce Georlett

pgeorlett@klkntv.com 

"Today I’m calling for Governor Ricketts to immediately terminate Scott Frakes as the director of the Department of Corrections," stated Sen. Bob Krist who is running for Governor in November. 

With the major overcrowding problem throughout the states prisons, Senator Krist wants Governor Ricketts to make major changes to fix that.

At the Tecumseh State Prison Sen. Bob Krist, called for Governor Pete Ricketts to fire State Prison Director Scott Frakes.

"My statement is very simple there’s a lack performance on the part of the current director and something need to be done," added Sen. Bob Krist. 

Scott Frakes was appointed by the Governor in 2015, and even with Senator Krist’s call to terminate Frakes, Ricketts is not backing down.

"We’ve got the right leader in Scott Frakes to manage all of this he’s doing a fantastic job," said Gov. Ricketts "we’re making the efforts to really take an organization that was under invested and had to have a change in culture and we’re making that change."

Currently the prisons in Nebraska are at around 150% capacity, which could lead to future problems with the Department of Justice.

"In 2020 we are call if we are about a certain level in the system to declare an emergency," said Sen. Krist "the governor must declare an emergency. It is my promise when elected and inaugurated that I will declare an emergency immediately and fix the problems in our corrections system."

Governor Ricketts believes calling for a state of emergency would not be the right solution to the current state of the prisons.

"So the senator today was wildly political move because he has been somebody who has in the past recommended an emergency for corrections which would let inmates out before their terms were up. He’s also introduced bills like that too," added Gov. Ricketts. 

Krist also announced he’s being endorsed by the Nebraska Association of Public employees, local 61, which represents Frontline Prison workers.

We did reach out to Frake’s office but they did not have any comment about Senator Krist’s statement today.