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Committee tables bill proposing additional PSI writers after split vote; sponsors open to reducing FTEs
Summary
SB89, sponsored on behalf of the Criminal Justice Oversight Council, would add dedicated pre-sentence investigation (PSI) raters to improve report quality. The committee debated cutting the proposed 14 FTEs; after debate a motion to pass failed on a tied/split roll call and the bill was tabled for further consideration.
Senator (carrying for the Criminal Justice Oversight Council) introduced SB89 to create additional Department of Corrections positions to improve the quality of pre-sentence investigation reports (PSIs). The sponsor said understaffing had harmed report quality and public safety and noted earlier negotiations in Senate Judiciary had discussed cutting the bill's proposed FTEs in half.
Natalie Smitham, chief financial officer for the Department of Corrections, answered questions about staffing and said the department would likely restructure proposed positions into one supervisor and the remainder as PSI raters if the total FTEs were reduced from 14 to seven.
Opposition in executive action centered on process and budget priorities. Senator Kirk Carpenter and others criticized bringing the request as a standalone bill rather than through the governor's budget (House Bill 2), arguing the fiscal impacts were shown in the fiscal note but not in HB2. Senator Esp said some requested positions already exist or were funded in HB2 and objected to adding new positions outside that process.
During executive action, a motion to pass SB89 was put to a roll-call vote. The transcript records a roughly even split and the chair declared the motion failed (transcript shows an 11–11 split list and the chair voting no). The chair reported SB89 was tabled following the failed motion.
Sponsors said they were open to reducing the number of FTEs (discussed earlier as possibly seven) and to further work in committee to resolve funding and process concerns.
