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Committee questions DOC capital requests, asks staff to reconcile spending and bring projects back
Summary
The Corrections & Institutions Committee reviewed multiple Department of Corrections capital projects — including Marble Valley and Saint Johnsbury design work, Northwest booking expansion and roof replacement, Newport sprinkler design, Northern State oil replacement and the River Valley Secure Residential facility — and asked staff to return with reconciled spending figures and follow-up testimony.
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 dates, and noted these often move to contracts for design and construction.
- Security, suicide-prevention and PREA compliance. Committee members noted funding lines for facility security upgrades and suicide-prevention measures that align with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and asked that those needs remain prioritized.
- Marble Valley and Saint Johnsbury projects. Marble Valley received initial design funding; members said a half‑million dollars was allocated to start and complete design and to coordinate design for Saint Johnsbury. The committee recorded a multi‑million total project estimate for Marble Valley; Saint Johnsbury was discussed as a larger, multi‑million construction project with a reported $7,000,000 project figure in the presentation.
- Northwest booking expansion and roof replacement. Committee members noted previous appropriations totaling $2.6 million for booking expansion planning, design and construction and discussed an additional request of about $1.2 million. They agreed the booking area work and roof replacement are closely integrated and that providing flexible language for reallocating funds between roof and booking line items could be helpful.
- Newport sprinkler system and other phased projects. Staff described early design work for Newport’s sprinkler system and suggested splitting funding across years (start design now, revisit additional funding later). Members proposed funding half now and revisiting the remainder in a later fiscal year.
- Northern State oil replacement. Members observed that prior appropriations remain largely untouched and asked whether design had started as testified in mid‑January.
- Secure Residential (River Valley) review and geothermal work. The committee reviewed a prior allocation of $1.43 million for the River Valley Secure Residential facility; staff testimony noted that $750,000 should remain with BGS to complete the project because geothermal system issues remain unresolved and that $680,000 may be reallocated. The committee also noted the statutory direction for BGS and Mental Health to report on incorporating emergency involuntary procedures and involuntary medication into the River Valley facility (a report was due in 2025).
Throughout the discussion members emphasized the difficulty of tracking a mix of cash and bonded funds across multi‑year projects and recommended tighter documentation of prior appropriations, expenditures and remaining balances before the committee finalizes any reallocations. Several members urged staff to prepare language that would allow limited movement of funds between tightly integrated project lines (for example, between roof work and booking expansion) while keeping controls on broad reallocation.
Committee members asked BGS and DOC staff to return with reconciled spreadsheets and, where necessary, to be prepared to testify again on projects that show large unspent balances or mismatched totals.
“Because if Newport is not going forward as quickly as possible, why are we tying up 3,500,000.0?” one committee member said, summarizing the concern that large sums appear to be committed but not actively advancing in design or construction.
The committee did not take final votes on the DOC project packages during this session; instead, members requested follow-up briefings and clearer financial documentation so the committee can consider language to allow narrowly defined flexibility and to ensure funds are released only when project conditions are met.
