Appropriations subcommittee advances Department of Corrections budget, trims some requests

Bismarck, N.D. — On Feb. 14 the Appropriations - Human Resources Division spent its meeting reviewing Senate Bill 2015, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) budget, and agreed to advance most DOCR items to the committee long sheet while reducing or clarifying several line items.

The committee moved forward planning and operating requests for the department but cut or scaled back some high-cost items and set staffing assumptions for new programs. Senator Mather opened the discussion on prison planning, saying, "I believe we ought to reduce the planning for a, new prison. I think 23,000,000 is way too high." Committee members later agreed to lower the planning/design figure to $20,000,000 for now and require further reports during planning.

Why it matters: The DOCR budget contains capital planning, operations, and program funding that will determine staffing, bed capacity and facility work statewide. The committee’s reductions and directions shape what goes to conference committee and affect how the department will prioritize projects during the biennium.

Committee decisions and key figures

- Pretrial services: The committee agreed to fund 2 FTEs for pretrial services rather than the three FTEs requested in the governor’s budget and to prorate the dollar amount accordingly. Tom Earhart, chief parole and probation officer for DOCR, described the program as a pilot launched in 2020 that provides risk assessments and supervision for…