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Corrections budget trims nonrecurring work; LCIW rebuild and supplemental needs remain focus of committee questions
Summary
Senate Fiscal presented the Department of Corrections FY26 recommendation and a list of supplemental needs. Corrections leaders described the LCIW rebuild, movement of inmates from local housing back to state facilities, and criminal justice reinvestment savings of about $4.2 million for FY24.
BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Corrections (DOC) told the Senate Finance Committee the department’s FY26 recommended budget is $768.5 million, about $22 million less than the current year’s existing operating budget, mainly because one‑time acquisitions and major repair funding from the current year was nonrecurring.
Senate Fiscal presenter Carrie Couvillion walked the committee through the agency request and highlighted that most DOC funding (about 92% on the recommended budget) comes from State General Fund. She also presented the department’s supplemental estimate: DOC officials identified roughly $50.1 million in potential supplemental needs for the current year, driven primarily by personal‑services and other workload adjustments.
The committee discussed the state’s work to reopen the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW). Couvillion noted LCIW is being rebuilt and had been temporarily housed at the former Jetson facility; the department said it expects to begin moving women back to the rebuilt LCIW in staged flights starting in the summer, with some officials saying a July start for initial dorm occupancy, then continued staging into the fall to reach full operational levels.
DOC leaders also reported criminal justice reinvestment (CJRI) accounting for FY24: the department presented about $4.2 million in FY24 savings under CJRI. The report to the committee broke out the distribution under the 2022 law changes: portions to the state general fund, LCTCS for education and training, community grants, LCLE victim services, and OJJ/DOC strategic investments.
Population and operations: Fiscal presented population trackers showing roughly 28,800 total adult population (state and local combined) in the system as of the latest monthly data, with about 14,059 state inmates assigned to state facilities and roughly 14,800 held at local jails under state adult custodial arrangements. Dixons, Louisiana State Penitentiary, Hunt, Laborde and other named institutions accounted for the departmental population. Couvillion pointed to a five‑year recidivism figure of 42% for returns to custody in the fifth year, which the report noted is lower than earlier historical peaks.
Why it matters: The LCIW rebuild, the proposed supplemental needs and management of local‑housing costs are immediate budget issues the committee must understand during the FY26 session. Committee members asked DOC undersecretary and deputy leadership for status and for details about reentry programming and implementation of rehabilitation and workforce supports.
What’s next: DOC agreed to follow up on program implementation questions and specific items tied to its supplemental estimate. Senators asked for more details on rehabilitation programs and on the schedule for staged inmate transfers back to LCIW.
