The Nebraska Supreme Court oversees probation in the state. (Getty Images)

LINCOLN — The Nebraska State Auditor is taking aim at the state office that manages probation services for lawbreakers — alleging that an “extraordinary” spike in state costs was at least partly spurred by scant oversight.

Released Monday, a 41-page report by Auditor Mike Foley examined the Nebraska Administrative Office of Probation. A division of the Nebraska Supreme Court, the probation office supervises roughly 16,000 Nebraskans who broke the law, including about 5,500 youths and adults who receive specific court-ordered services.

According to Foley, expenses of probation services jumped to roughly $62 million last calendar year — an increase of about $19.5 million from two years earlier.

The “cost explosion

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