Bill > LB358

This bill amends the Nebraska Treatment and Corrections Act to provide committed offenders with access to their individual files maintained by the Department of Correctional Services. Currently, these files are confidential and not accessible to the offenders themselves, but the bill would require facilities to grant offenders written access to their own files upon request to the facility's chief executive officer. The individual files can include sensitive information such as admission summaries, presentence investigation reports, classification reports, criminal records, progress reports, disciplinary records, and parole plans. The bill maintains existing confidentiality protections, specifying that the files remain protected from public inspection except by court order. Additionally, the bill preserves the department's authority to withhold mental health and psychological records when deemed appropriate. The changes aim to provide more transparency for committed offenders regarding their own documentation while maintaining necessary privacy and institutional discretion. The bill will replace the existing section 83-178 of the Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, updating language from "person" to "committed offender" and clarifying the process for file access.

Justice

https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59046