Appropriations panel backs $7.6 billion criminal and civil justice budget, hears prison safety appeals

Senator Garcia, chair of the Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice, presented the committee’s proposed $7,600,000,000 fiscal-year 2025–26 budget for criminal and civil justice programs and the panel voted to send the package as a recommendation to the full Appropriations Committee.

The proposed budget, Garcia said, "demonstrates a balanced approach to addressing key priorities in corrections, juvenile justice, law enforcement, and the court system." The committee adopted a motion by Senator Yarbrough recommending the package to the full Appropriations Committee without objection.

The proposal includes targeted allocations the chair highlighted: $23,000,000 for year three of the Department of Corrections (DOC) health services contract; $14,000,000 for health services tied to dorms opening this year; $12,000,000 for food-service inflation; and $56,000,000 for department operations to address a projected increase in the prison population. The Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) is slated for $12,700,000 to add residential beds and increase bed rates, plus $4,000,000 for higher food and medical costs at detention centers.

Law-enforcement programs in the package include $10,000,000 for an apprenticeship program to help recruit and certify officers who cannot afford academy costs, and $2,800,000 for an office of wellness to provide mental-health and support services for officers. Justice Administration funding includes $5,100,000 to enhance fee rates for court-appointed attorneys and funding to address VOCA shortfalls, along with resources for rent, motor vehicles and other operational needs.

Information-technology projects for DOC, DJJ, the attorney general’s office, the Department of Law Enforcement, and justice-administration entities total more than $53,000,000 in the proposal. The court system portion includes $6,700,000 for court reporting, case processing and due-process resources, and $13,000,000 to fund 29 new judges. Garcia noted that salary decisions fall under the full Appropriations Committee and are not reflected in the committee spreadsheet.

The committee also adopted a separate staff-motion, moved by Senator Wright, allowing staff to make technical adjustments to documents without objection.

During public comment, three relatives of incarcerated people described alleged neglect and violence in correctional facilities and urged increased medical care, safety and oversight. Virginia Ann Foreman said her son, a nonviolent prisoner, served "1 year, 1 day inside the correction facility" and described allegations that he was beaten, denied timely medical care and died; she asked the senators for help. Sherry L. Brooks Cooper said her son has been unable to obtain regular, prescribed medical care while incarcerated and asked the committee to improve medical and food services. Pamela Whitley said her brother, Scott Whitley, died in 2022 at the Marion County Jail and said she had viewed video showing he was "tased 27 times and pepper sprayed to death." The committee did not take separate votes tied directly to those public comments but recorded them into the meeting record.

The committee’s recommendation will move to the full Appropriations Committee for further consideration and any adjustments on salary or other statewide pay issues. No final appropriations or implementation action is effective until enacted by the full committee and subsequent legislative processes.