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Appropriators fund contracted out‑of‑state prison placements and add K-9 teams; other DOC language changes also pass
Summary
Committee approved money to continue out‑of‑state secure placements and added K-9 teams; it also passed language and technical changes affecting prevailing-wage intent and program appropriations in the Department of Corrections budget.
The House Appropriations Committee voted to include funding for contracted out-of-state prison placements and to add K-9 teams in the Department of Corrections (DOC) budget during executive action on House Bill 2, Section D.
Representative Fitzpatrick offered an amendment to provide general-fund authority to contract for 360 out-of-state secure placements; the sponsor said the state currently has roughly 600 inmates housed out of state and argued the amendment was needed to continue contracted placements into the next biennium. The committee approved that amendment after debate; supporters said the state must maintain placements while in-state capacity is expanded and reconfigured, and opponents described the outcome as an expensive but necessary stopgap.
The committee also approved a DOC request to add three additional K-9 teams and remove restricted language on that line item. Representative Nave, sponsor of the amendment, said working dogs are valuable “force multipliers” used primarily for contraband detection and could be deployed across facilities and on probation and parole work. The voice vote passed unanimously among those present.
Other DOC items moved by the committee included: removal of restricted intent language tied to prevailing-wage funding for a private contract facility (an amendment that passed after roll-call), and an amendment to make certain program appropriations biannual rather than single-year allocations. Some language changes were described by legislative staff as technical corrections tied to companion bills.
A separate DOC amendment reducing a $2.55 million correction in a juvenile assistance line item (requested by the department to reflect changed in-state housing decisions) passed 13–10 on roll call after the department said it planned to move more youth into Pine Hills and reduce out-of-state placements.
Ending: Committee members said they expect continued pressure on correctional capacity and signaled the budget will include a mix of stopgap out-of-state contracts and investments to expand in-state capacity in later bills.
