Georgia corrections commissioner outlines $459 million plan to shore up staffing, security and aging facilities

Commissioner Tyrone, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections, told a joint House appropriations subcommittee hearing that the governor nd outside consultants had developed a package of recommendations to address staffing shortages, a rise in contraband and aging facility infrastructure.

The governor mended FY25 request totals about $458.7 million and the FY26 request totals about $144.6 million, Commissioner Tyrone said. The presentation grouped spending into four broad priorities: security staffing and salaries, contraband interdiction and technology, offender health and medical services, and capital repairs and locking/control upgrades.

Why it matters: Lawmakers and corrections officials said the changes aim to improve safety for staff, inmates and the public, reduce long-term operating costs and restore system capacity so facilities can be taken offline for repairs.

Staffing and compensation: The administration asked for a mix of new positions, salary compression fixes and step promotions to improve retention. Key items included a request to add 882 correctional officer (CO) posts over time to reduce officer-to-offender ratios (the presentation said current staffing patterns are insufficient), an in-grade promotion schedule and an across‑the‑board 4% CO raise in FY26. The package includes a FY26 line of roughly $6.1 million for career‑path promotions and a FY25 line of about $10.4 million that the department tied to filling 330 CO and CSM positions.

Commissioner Tyrone said the department has been "making progress in netting and retaining" newly hired officers, citing net hires of 672 COs in FY23 and 569 in FY24, with 243 year-to-date in FY25. He also told lawmakers the department will provide a targeted recruitment and retention campaign ($2.8 million) to centralize statewide outreach and accelerate background and onboarding processes.

Contraband, technology and officer tools: The budget requests multiple technology investments intended to disrupt contraband networks described by department witnesses as increasingly sophisticated. Proposals include expanding managed‑access (cell‑phone interdiction) and related managed‑access infrastructure to 14 additional locations (bringing the total referenced to 27 locations) with a cited funding figure of about $34 million; two additional drone‑detection systems; continued funding for the department igital forensics unit (about $1.4 million); replacement and standardization of body cameras tied to tasers (about $2.7 million in the amended request); and officer tablets (about $2.5 million in the amended request and $2.4 million in FY26).

The department said tablet deployment was live in 23 of its 35 state prisons and planned to bring the remainder online by the end of calendar year 2025, increasing tablets in the field from roughly 1,050 to about 1,600.

Commissioner Tyrone described managed access as "cell phone interdiction" and said newer managed‑access systems in pilot sites have been more effective in capturing illicit traffic compared with older systems, though he declined to elaborate on technical details for security reasons.

Health care and long‑term acute care: The department told the committee it has seen rising costs for medical, pharmacy, mental and dental services driven principally by offender population counts and use of offsite long‑term acute care (LTAC) facilities. The presentation listed a FY25 contractual increase of about $50.9 million and $31.2 million for FY26 tied to projected health‑care contract expenditures.

To reduce offsite costs, the request includes funding (identified in capital outlay and operations line items) to add an LTAC capability inside a state facility. Commissioner Tyrone said GDC pays roughly $2,000 per day for offsite acute care and must assign two COs per LTAC offender, representing a combined operational and overtime drain; the department estimated the LTAC plan could break even in the first year by reducing claims and ACE (offsite) costs. Department witnesses said about 20 offenders were in LTAC care on the day of the hearing and that lengths of stay vary dramatically by diagnosis.

Education and recidivism: The governor—udget includes funds to replace damaged and outdated Chromebooks (the presentation listed roughly $450,000 in the amended FY25 request) and to expand GED testing capacity (the presentation listed a contract expansion amount of about $701,000). The commissioner cited recidivism figures shown to the committee, noting lower reoffense rates for inmates who complete educational and vocational programs (education: ~20.9%; vocational: ~13.6%; cognitive programming: ~22%).

Facility infrastructure and locks: The presentation placed heavy emphasis on locks, locking‑control systems and urgent maintenance. Proposals included bringing 446 private‑contract beds online to provide surge capacity (the presentation listed roughly $5.9 million annually), purchasing four high‑security modular housing modules (504 beds) at an amended FY25 cost of about $93.2 million, design and construction funds for new locking/control systems at multiple facilities (the package included line items totaling tens of millions), and funding for a project backlog and deferred maintenance (the presentation itemized amounts for major repairs and maintenance, project managers, and emergency repair crews).

Commissioner Tyrone told the committee replacing lock and control systems requires rewiring and broader hardening work and estimated a five‑ to six‑year timeline to complete a full statewide upgrade under the present funding plan. Lawmakers repeatedly pressed for ways to accelerate the timeline, use surge contractors and maximize available private‑contract bed space while work is underway.

Lawmakers nd next steps: Committee members asked detailed questions about vacancy counts, which the commissioner said totaled 26,100 in the transcripted presentation; the department agreed to provide a precise breakdown of funded versus unfunded vacancies and other requested metrics. Members also asked for more detail on private‑bed capacity, project timelines, contractor sourcing and duration, the composition of the proposed modular units, and the return on investment for the LTAC unit.

The presentation credited consultant partners Guidehouse, The Moss Group and Carter Goble Lee (CGL) for conducting a system review and stated the governor nd the department would work with the legislature during the budget process. Commissioner Tyrone concluded by asking for lawmakers' consideration and offered to provide follow‑up data the members requested.

Ending: Lawmakers said they would follow up with more questions in subsequent subcommittee meetings and emphasized urgency around lock replacements, contraband interdiction and the staffing shortfall. No formal votes or binding actions occurred during the presentation; the session functioned as a budget briefing and question‑and‑answer opportunity for appropriators.