Georgia corrections commissioner outlines governor's $458.7M amended FY25 and $144.6M FY26 recommendations to address staffing, contraband and locks

At a joint House appropriations subcommittee hearing on the Department of Corrections' budget, the department's commissioner presented the governor's amended fiscal 2025 and proposed fiscal 2026 recommendations, saying the package totals $458.7 million (amended FY25) and $144.6 million (FY26) and is intended to improve safety for staff, incarcerated people and the public.

The commissioner told committee members that consultants Guidehouse, Moss Group and CGL worked with the governor's office and the Georgia Department of Corrections to identify near-term priorities and that many of the green-highlighted items in the slide deck reflected that outside work. "You can study things for a long time and hope that you get the right answer and the right path forward. Well, this has been studied and studied, and I think it's time to get something done," the commissioner said.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed for details because the requests cover personnel, capital work and recurring operations and are intended to respond to what the commissioner described as an increasingly violent offender population, widespread aging infrastructure and persistent contraband problems that undermine security.

Key proposals and discussion

Staffing and compensation: The commissioner said the department currently reports about 26,100 open positions across security and nonsecurity classifications. The governor's recommendations include a request to fund 882 additional correctional officer positions to move toward a lower officer-to-offender ratio (the commissioner described the target moving from about 1:14 toward roughly 1:11) and proposals for career-path promotions and pay adjustments. Specific budget items discussed included a $6.1 million proposal for in-grade promotion changes and a $9.6 million line in FY26 to provide a 4% salary increase for correctional officers to narrow gaps with neighboring states. Committee members repeatedly asked how many of the 26,100 vacancies are already funded; the commissioner said the requested budget would fund portions of the gap and that the subcommittee would be provided a funding breakdown.

Recruitment and training: The department proposes centralized, targeted recruitment and retention efforts (the commissioner cited $2.8 million for expanded recruitment advertising and vendor work) and an expanded, technology-enhanced training program using scenario-based simulators (roughly $900,000 cited). The commissioner emphasized efforts to accelerate background checks and onboarding where centralized processes cause delays.

Technology and contraband interdiction: The presentation outlined expanded managed-access (cell-phone interdiction) systems and drone detection. The commissioner said managed-access will be installed at additional sites to reach a total of 27 locations and that the agency expects further managed-access rollouts by March; the new systems are described as more effective than older deployments. Drone-detection systems were proposed for two additional locations (bringing the total cited in the presentation to 25 systems) and the digital forensics unit supporting contraband-phone investigations was identified for continued funding. Committee members repeatedly raised the local-county impact of drones and illicit phone networks.

Officer devices and body-worn equipment: The department said officer tablets are live in 23 facilities (about 1,050 tablets deployed) with a plan to put tablets in all 35 state prisons by the end of calendar 2025 and to increase tablets to around 1,600. The proposal also includes replacing body cameras and linking them to tasers so a camera automatically starts when certain devices are unholstered; committee members asked about use, policies for turning cameras off, and whether all officers carry tasers (the commissioner said not all officers currently carry tasers, and the upgrade would standardize platforms).

Mail screening and other interdiction: The package includes a proposal to centralize off-site scanning of inmate mail to reduce contraband entering facilities, with the amended FY25 request described as $900,000 and annualized to about $1.8 million in FY26, the commissioner said.

Health care and long-term acute care: The department described a projected increase in health-care contract costs tied to offender population growth and the transition to a department-managed electronic health record (EHR). The presentation cited a large projected contractual increase (the commissioner stated the FY25 contractual projection at roughly $50.9 million and FY26 at $31.2 million) and proposed a $15 million investment in a department-owned EHR to avoid vendor lock-in. The commissioner also proposed bringing a long-term acute care (LTAC) unit behind the wire; the presentation cited a FY26 request of $6.2 million and said off-site acute-care claims currently run roughly $2,000 per day and about $16 million annually. The department said moving LTAC services on-site should reduce claims and the need for correctional officer posts assigned to hospitals.

Education and reentry programming: The commissioner said the department will replace damaged Chromebooks and expand GED testing (the presentation cited funding to increase GED testing capacity from 20 to 25 test sites to serve a growing population). Committee members asked about program capacity and recidivism; the commissioner cited reduced recidivism rates for inmates who complete education and vocational programs and provided program-specific recidivism figures during Q&A (for example, vocational programs were cited near 13.6% in an example the commissioner gave).

Facility hardening, locks and surge capacity: The package includes major maintenance, lock-and-control system replacements, and short-term surge bed capacity to allow facilities to take units offline for repairs. The commissioner described a proposed 504-bed modular housing expansion (four modules) to provide temporary bed capacity while lock replacements and construction are completed. The department asked for funding to replace locking-control systems at multiple facilities and to hire additional project managers and maintenance contractors. Committee members extensively questioned cost-per-bed estimates for modular units, sole-source procurement, and whether private-prison capacity could meet short-term needs at lower cost; the commissioner said some private beds are available and that modular units could be delivered in about a year.

Committee requests for follow-up: Lawmakers repeatedly asked for more precise breakdowns and timelines: how many of the 26,100 vacancies are funded, the funded/unfunded split by position; line-item detail distinguishing population-driven contract increases from unit-price changes in health care; clarification of modular unit per-bed cost and procurement approach; and a consolidated plan showing lock-replacement design, construction and the bed-management plan. The commissioner acknowledged several items would be provided offline and said some answers (for example, further recommendations from Guidehouse and Moss Group) will arrive with consultant reports later this year.

Quotes from the hearing

"We do realize and recognize that this is, I don't know if it's historical as a proper term, but it is out of the ordinary. And I think it shows the emphasis that he and us collectively are putting on this issue," Chairman Hatchett said at the start of the presentation.

"You can study things for a long time and hope that you get the right answer and the right path forward. Well, this has been studied and studied, and I think it's time to get something done," the commissioner told members.

"If you can make a lot of headway with the managed access system and blocking these cell phone signals, that's how they're coordinating getting most of that contraband in. That will be...a huge impact," the commissioner said when describing contraband-interdiction goals.

What's next: The subcommittee asked the department to return with detailed line-item breakouts, procurement timelines and bed-capacity analyses. Members said they expected follow-up briefings and more complete consultant findings; the consultant work cited in the presentation (Guidehouse, Moss Group, CGL) is due to conclude in coming months, the commissioner said. The subcommittee did not take formal votes at the hearing; members signaled continued scrutiny of high-cost capital items and recurring personnel funding.

Ending: Lawmakers said they would continue asking detailed questions as staff and the department provide the requested breakdowns. The commissioner closed by thanking the governor's office, the external consultants and the committee for their time and said department staff would remain available to answer follow-up questions.