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DOC tells Council FY26 budget rises while staffing, overtime and recruitment remain major challenges
Summary
First Deputy Commissioner Francis Torres told the Council that the Department of Correction’s FY26 executive budget is roughly $1.3 billion, but the agency is still operating with large uniform and civilian vacancies, sharply higher overtime and ongoing recruitment and retention pressures.
The New York City Department of Correction told the City Council during joint criminal justice and finance budget hearings that its fiscal 2026 executive budget stands at about $1.3 billion but that the agency is wrestling with large staffing shortfalls and soaring overtime costs.
First Deputy Commissioner Francis Torres said the DOC’s FY26 executive budget is roughly $1.3 billion and remains heavily weighted to personal services. "Heroes work here at the New York City Department of Correction," Torres said in opening testimony, praising staff while outlining operational pressures facing the jails.
The budget picture is complicated by continued vacancies and large overtime expenditures. Assistant Commissioner Faizon Zubair told the committees DOC received roughly $180 million in additional overtime funding in the executive plan. The department’s fiscal 2024 overtime outlay was about $281 million; DOC projected fiscal 2025 overtime could reach about $337 million.
Deputy Bureau Chief Sherry Ann Rembert described an aging uniformed workforce and a wave of pending retirements that will complicate hiring: she said several hundred correction officers are eligible to retire in the next two years. The department noted a recent academy graduation of more than 100 new recruits and said a new class is starting the week of the hearing.
Council members pressed DOC about how it intends to reduce overtime and bring staffing in line with authorized headcount. DOC described measures including enhanced redeployment, a new automated staffing dashboard with real‑time visibility into assignments, preapproval of overtime for restricted staff, and increased outreach and recruitment campaigns. Rembert described a stepped‑up redeployment cadence and other controls meant to reduce triple tours and overtime usage.
Council members also pressed DOC on civilian hiring and use of civilian lines to replace uniform posts. DOC said civilian vacancies are fluid and identified maintenance, programs and community partnerships, and nutritional services as units with higher civilian vacancy rates. The department said it has roughly 250 civilian vacancies but is actively onboarding more than 150 candidates at various stages of hiring.
Why it matters: overtime increases and persistent vacancies have operational and budget consequences for the city. Council members repeatedly pressed DOC for clearer recruitment timelines and asked the administration to consider reallocating resources away from recurring overtime toward more sustainable personnel solutions.
Ending: Council members signaled they will continue to scrutinize personnel and overtime numbers as budget negotiations proceed and asked DOC for follow‑up data on retirements, vacancy timelines and the effectiveness of newly described overtime controls.
