Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Population Driven Costs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Population changes, medical contract negotiations drive multi‑million corrections cost requests
Summary
Legislative analysts said county jail and out‑of‑state housing costs and higher medical utilization are the primary drivers of a supplemental budget request; the department said medical contract negotiations could mean a 10% increase if renewed or a 30–40% rise if re‑bidded.
Legislative analysts told the Joint Finance Preparations Committee on Feb. 4 that population changes in county jails and out‑of‑state placements, plus higher medical utilization, are producing supplemental requests and will raise the Department of Correction’s baseline for FY2026.
Noah Peterson, budget analyst, described population‑driven adjustments that resulted in a supplemental for FY2025 and an ongoing FY2026 increase. He said the county and out‑of‑state placement program saw a supplemental request tied to updated population projections and that the FY2026 ongoing increase was $4,027,900 to reflect the updated baseline.
Peterson also said the medical services division is seeking $5,957,200 for FY2025 to make up for unexpectedly higher utilization in the current year; that figure assumes successful negotiations with the current medical contractor. He told the committee that if negotiations fail and the contract goes to bid, the agency projects a 30%–40% increase to the medical contract cost; under successful renegotiation the agency estimates a 10% increase.
Senator Zieterfeld asked how county per‑diem rates are set; Director Josh Tewalt responded that those rates are set in Idaho statute and explained the bifurcated county per‑diem (one rate for days 1‑7, a higher rate for days 8+), saying the statutory approach was intended to encourage prompt state pickup of individuals in county custody.
Analysts noted prior year one‑time reductions and restorations (a supplemental cut in one year that was restored to the base) and said the department’s FY2026 projections assume the per‑diem rates remain unchanged and that most of the supplemental increases are attributable to population and utilization rather than changed rates.
Ending: The committee did not take final action the day of the hearing. Analysts and the department said they would provide more detailed population and utilization projections to support appropriation decisions.
