Department of Corrections presents budget plan leaning on vacancies, recruitment to curb overtime

The New Hampshire Department of Corrections defended a budget proposal that aims to reduce costly overtime by relying on savings from vacant positions and improved recruitment, Commissioner Helen Hanks said during a Finance - Division I hearing. Hanks and department staff told the committee the agency’s base operating ask is roughly in line with FY24 spending once federal ARPA timing anomalies are removed, but they warned the proposal depends on filling vacant posts and sustaining retention efforts.

Why it matters: Corrections is a major state expenditure and overtime has been a recurring pressure. The department’s approach — pay vacant-position salary lines rather than overtime — is intended to hold down costs, but lawmakers pressed officials on whether the plan is realistic given historic overtime use and recruitment volatility.

Hanks said Department of Corrections fiscal staff adjusted the FY24 numbers to account for ARPA dollars received in FY24 but spent in FY23, which made the FY24 spending picture look smaller on paper. The department expects general-fund spending in the corrections industries area would have been about $169 million absent that federal timing issue.

On staffing and recruitment: Hanks said the department has reduced vacancies in its law-enforcement ranks to roughly 42% from a 51% vacancy rate in January 2023, and that 28 new officers are scheduled for the next corrections academy. She added recruitment gains have continued — a slide shown to the committee tracked new hires rising from 30 to 33 and more expected.

Hanks and Director of Administration Lisa Stone explained the budget uses a vacancy-funded strategy: funding currently budgeted to pay salaries of authorized but vacant positions is intended to be applied to hire full‑time staff, which should in turn reduce overtime. If unexpected events (for example, a sudden spike in retirements or recruitment shortfalls) push costs beyond those savings, the department said it would return to the fiscal committee or governor’s office to request additional appropriation.

Operational context and risks: Committee members asked whether the department’s assumption that hiring replaces overtime is supported by the math — staff told the panel it takes roughly 11 months for a new hire to “break even” compared with overtime because of training, certification, and benefits. Committee members also pressed the administration on the practical cost comparison between overtime hours (paid at 1.5x–2x rates plus benefits) and regular-hour pay with full benefits.

Population and workload: Hanks reported roughly 1,970 people in custody in state facilities and slightly more than 4,000 persons on probation or parole, for about 6,000 people under department supervision in total. She said roughly 40% of the incarcerated population at the time were returned for parole violations, down from 48% in prior years; the department credits a multi‑year recidivism decline (about 8% over seven years) with saving the state an estimated $14 million over that period by reducing the number of people incarcerated.

Budget lines and contingency: Lawmakers focused on key lines where assumptions are most fragile: overtime lines reduced near zero in the proposed budget; medical and pharmacy lines; and corrections industries revenue offsets. Hanks said the department is seeking footnotes and contingency authority that would allow it to reallocate vacancy savings and, if necessary, request additional funds if events exceed those assumptions.

Outlook: The committee accepted the presentation and asked for follow-up on several items — specifically clearer reconciliations of the FY24 ARPA timing, the assumptions used to reduce overtime lines, and the metrics the department will use to trigger any future requests to cover unforecasted cost pressures.