Nebraska State Penitentiary

The Nebraska State Penitentiary (NSP) is a state correctional facility for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Located in Lincoln, it is the oldest state correctional facility in Nebraska, opening in 1869. Until after World War I, it was the only adult correctional facility in the state.

During 1980–1981, the existing cellblocks constructed during the second half of the 19th century were replaced by four (later five) modular housing units. A new administrative complex and an EPA-approved multi-fuel power plant were also completed at the same time. An existing dormitory building constructed in the 1950s was retained as a medium security facility and two new 100 bed dormitory units were opened in 1998. A thirty-six bed control unit also built in the 1950s continues in use as a high security segregation facility. The Industries Plant, Laundry and other support buildings were retained from the older facility as well.

The inmate population at the NSP typically consists of offenders aged 21 years and above, serving medium to longer sentences. The Nebraska State Penitentiary uses the Unit Management concept designed to improve control and staff/inmate relationships by dividing the larger institution population into smaller, more manageable groups and to improve and personalize the delivery of rehabilitative services.

The NSP has been accredited by the American Correctional Association since 1985.

The NSP offers a variety of education/rehabilitation programs designed to enhance an inmate's chances for successful community adjustment upon release. These include Educational/Life Skills and Vocational Programs, Self-Improvement (Mental Health and Control Unit Program), (Residential and Non-residential Substance Abuse Treatment), Residential Treatment Community (RTC), Religious Programming and Self-Betterment Activities), and Support Services

The NSP is the site of major components of the Agency's Cornhusker State Industries (CSI) program.


 * Security Levels: Maximum, Medium and Minimum Custody.
 * Average Population: 1323
 * Number of Staff: 465
 * Cost per Inmate per Year: $27,834

Replacement facility
In August 2023, the Nebraska Department of Corrections purchased a 300 acre parcel north of Lincoln on which a new 1,512 capacity multi-custody replacement facility for the penitentiary will be constructed. Construction of the facility is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2024 with an anticipated completion date of the fall of 2026.

Notable inmates

 * Vince Champ, convicted sex offender and former comedian.
 * George Contant, brother of John Sontag, often called collectively The Sontag Brothers, imprisoned for theft; later sent to Folsom State Prison in California for train robbery.
 * Nikko Jenkins, spree killer; currently sits on death row.
 * John Joubert, serial killer; executed in 1996.
 * Carey Dean Moore, executed in 2018.
 * Harold Lamont Otey, executed in 1994; first person executed in Nebraska since 1959.
 * Charles Starkweather, Nebraska 1958 spree killer, sentenced to death; executed in the prison's electric chair on June 25, 1959.
 * William Leslie Arnold, at 16 years old murdered his parents in 1958 and was sentenced to life. In 1967, Arnold and another inmate escaped the penitentiary. While the other inmate was eventually recaptured, Arnold remained a fugitive until his death in 2010, where in 2022 DNA evidence found him to be living as John Damon in Australia.
 * Duane Earl Pope, serving a life sentence for the violent 1965 robbery of the Farmers State Bank in Big Springs, Nebraska, in which three people were murdered and one was left severely injured.