LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s prison system is struggling to deliver mental health services to inmates who need it.

Corrections officials told a legislative committee Wednesday that they’re still trying to fill nursing, psychology and psychiatry positions and face the same turnover problems that have plagued other parts of the department.

Assistant State Ombudsman Jerall Moreland says inmates are having difficulty getting access to treatment they need before completing their sentences.

Former state Sen. Steve Lathrop, an attorney for the committee, says roughly 1,100 of the 5,300 prisoners in Nebraska suffer from a serious mental illness, and many also have developmental disabilities. State law requires the corrections department to provide the same standard of care available outside of prison.