Committee questions DOC capital requests, asks staff to reconcile spending and bring projects back

Members of the Corrections & Institutions Committee spent the session reviewing capital maintenance and construction requests for Department of Corrections facilities and asked staff to return with reconciled figures and follow-up testimony.

Committee members said several project budgets and line items do not track across the various spreadsheets and presentations. Staff and members repeatedly requested that the department and Buildings and General Services (BGS) return with clearer accounting showing how prior appropriations were spent (bonded dollars versus cash), where balances remain and which projects are ready to proceed.

“I'm just keeping the tally. I know that Joe is too,” one committee member said while reviewing the Northwest booking expansion and roof replacement figures. Members observed that last year’s entries and current presentations did not add up and agreed they needed the agencies to appear again with updated status reports.

Topics covered in the session included:

- ADA compliance work tied to Department of Justice requirements. Committee staff identified line items for ADA-related upgrades and discussed contract timing and completion…