Public Safety subcommittee advances $2.64 billion DOC budget, approves $3 million study on replacing Oregon State Penitentiary

The Public Safety Subcommittee on June 2, 2025 voted to move House Bill 5,004 — the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) budget — to the full Ways and Means Committee, adopting the Legislative Fiscal Office recommendation for a total funds budget of $2,639,706,541, the vast majority of which is general fund.

The budget as recommended funds 4,822 positions (4,793.96 full‑time equivalent) and reflects a 1.1% decrease from the current service level, largely driven by a downward revision in the April 25 forecast for the DOC caseload. That forecast change reduced mandated‑caseload funding agency‑wide, including a $14,693,244 general fund reduction in the operations division and a $32,745,827 general fund reduction for community corrections.

The committee adopted several targeted packages within the recommendation. The subcommittee approved a $4,800,000 agency‑wide package that adds 18 positions to address an emergent backlog of off‑site health care and hospital watch needs; a package to add transport officers for hospital and off‑site trips ($1,290,845 and five positions for the operations division); IT modernization and VoIP investments (including $1,771,759 general fund for a VoIP solution with a mass‑shutdown capability); and a $3,000,000 general fund preparatory package to study replacing the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem and to assess statewide geriatric needs for adults in custody.

The panel also approved an agency‑wide vacant‑position reduction that abolishes 13 long‑vacant positions, and division‑level reductions tied to the mandated‑caseload forecast; the LFO described these as reversals of earlier incremental adds that are no longer necessary as population projections fell. The recommendation notes that these are not characterized as cuts but as adjustments to prior incremental add‑backs.

Director Mike Reese, director of the Department of Corrections, told the subcommittee that the $3 million feasibility study is intended to "include stakeholder input and engagement with community groups to hear their thoughts on the replacement of the Oregon State Penitentiary and the model that we would bring back to the legislature for developing a medical geriatric facility and replacing this aging infrastructure." He added the study will be a comprehensive needs analysis and include community partners.

Members asked how reductions to the community corrections mandated caseload would affect counties. Representative Lewis pressed whether the adjusted budget would fully fund community corrections and raised concerns that underfunding earlier in a biennium can lead to county layoffs that cannot be restored if the forecast proves incorrect. LFO staff and Co‑chairs said the base budget maintains current service levels and acknowledged historical practice of backfilling during the biennium if necessary, but said the governor’s cost study funding was not included.

The subcommittee approved the LFO key performance measures and a budget note requiring DOC to report to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means during the 2026 and 2027 legislative sessions on the penitentiary replacement study and a statewide geriatric housing needs assessment.

The motion to move HB 5,004 as amended to the Ways and Means full committee carried with no recorded objections; the co‑chairs indicated they will carry the measure to both the House and Senate floors.

Looking ahead, the budget note and the $3 million study set a timetable for information to return to the Legislature in 2026 and 2027 and signal that planning for replacement of aging prison infrastructure and specialized geriatric capacity will be an active topic during the next biennium.