Over the past 2½ years there have been two deadly uprisings at the Tecumseh State Prison (in which a total of five inmates were slain), and the prison system has struggled with high staff turnover, increased use of mandatory overtime and an increase in assaults on prison staff.

This summer, the ACLU of Nebraska filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that inmates are getting less than adequate health care in the nation’s second-most overcrowded prison system.

“Every day it gets worse,” said Carla Jorgens, a corporal at the State Penitentiary. “I’m tired of seeing fellow employees taken out of the institution on a gurney.”

As other corrections employees have done, she called for “step raises” for workers based on longevity to ward off an exodus of experienced staff to safer and better-paying jobs. Currently, a corrections officer who has worked 10 years gets the same wage as someone who just started.

Frakes said he understands the concerns and is doing what he can.

Earlier this month he and his boss, Gov. Pete Ricketts, announced a plan to provide step raises for longevity and merit pay to employees at Tecumseh, a rural facility that has the most severe problems with recruiting and retaining staff.