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Legislative committee reviews Ellsworth Correctional Facility budget; FTEs reallocated to Lansing
Summary
Nicole Rincher, fiscal analyst with KLRD, presented Ellsworth Correctional Facility's FY2025 and FY2026 budget estimates to the Legislative Budget Committee, highlighting requests to reduce shrinkage allocations, capital repairs and a reallocation of two FTE positions to Lansing Correctional Facility.
Nicole Rincher, fiscal analyst with KLRD, presented Ellsworth Correctional Facility's fiscal year (FY) 2025 and FY2026 budget estimates to the Legislative Budget Committee, outlining requests tied to shrinkage reductions, capital repairs and personnel adjustments.
Rincher said the FY2025 approved amount was $22,500,000 and the facility's agency request was $24,500,000, an increase she described as roughly $1.9 million or 8.7%. She attributed most of the change to a $2,100,000 allocation to reduce the facility's shrinkage rate to 5%, plus a $235,000 request from the Correctional Institutions Building Fund for capital rehabilitation and repair. Rincher identified $914,000 in unspent State General Fund (SGF) reappropriations and $61,000 in unspent Correctional Institutions Building Fund carryover. She also said the agency deleted $419,000 in SGF and salaries to fold previously approved shift differential pay into base pay.
Rincher described a related personnel adjustment: the agency deleted two FTE positions at Ellsworth and added them to Lansing Correctional Facility, which she said reduced Ellsworth's FTE count to FY2024 actuals. She characterized the shrinkage reduction and related transfers as internal reallocations from the KDOC central office and not additions to the state's total budget.
During questions, Representative ResMed asked whether employees were being moved physically from Ellsworth to Lansing. A staff member responding on behalf of the agency clarified that only FTE positions were reallocated; no individual employees were shifted to Lansing.
Rincher also summarized FY2026 figures, saying the facility requested $24,400,000 (about an 8.6% increase from the $22,500,000 approved) driven primarily by another shrinkage reduction allocation and similar adjustments for contractual services and inmate incentive pay. She noted an LBC recommendation to delete premium pay at this facility in the FY2026 request.
The committee closed the Ellsworth budget hearing after members asked clarifying questions and moved on to the next facility's hearing.
