Senate subcommittee hears SB 30 briefing on state police costs, inmate medical bills, body cameras and juvenile placements

Richmond — The Senate Subcommittee on Public Safety and Claims heard a staff briefing on budget items in SB 30 affecting public safety, homeland security and veterans programs as the Senate prepares for budget week.

Sarah Morrison, the staff presenter, said the most significant items in the introduced budget are for "state police personnel, vehicle and IT cost increases," pointing to larger trooper class sizes and higher operating costs. She also identified rising inmate medical costs, which staff said are "driven by a disproportionately small number of inmates with some high out of patient claims." Morrison said the Department of Emergency Management request in the package is an estimate prepared in light of possible federal restructuring, and that the largest veterans item covers startup operations at a veteran care center that previously received startup funding.

Committee members focused questions on body-worn cameras and juvenile justice placements. On body-worn cameras, Marcus Salem, corrections operations administrator for the Department of Corrections, told the panel the department already "set up the unit that is going to be required to review camera footage" and that "he has the staff to manage that," saying "so there's no additional resources needed for that, particularly with staffing." Salem said the department is still determining storage duration and the potential dollar cost of longer retention.

An unidentified senator asked about a $2.8 million item in the governor's budget for juvenile justice placements and whether it was for Community Placement Programs (CPP) or individual bed contracts. Morrison outlined two buckets: roughly $1.8 million for intake, which officials say is under pressure because youths are staying longer in intake and cost per bed has risen; and about $1.5 million for CPP and individual bed placements (IBP), driven in part by higher per‑bed costs and the addition of IBP placements. Morrison said the increases reflect a combination of cost-per-bed growth (staff cited an increase of about $25,000 per bed compared with five years ago), expanded IBP usage and previous reallocation of transformation savings toward pre-placement services and workforce development.

A committee member noted the Department of Juvenile Justice has $20 million reserved for renovating the Oak Ridge Juvenile Correctional Center that has not yet been spent and suggested the facility might be redesigned as a forensic unit under a proposed HHR secretariat for juvenile justice. Morrison cautioned that the main constraint for improving placement timelines is staffing rather than physical space and said she would explore the Oak Ridge option with the department.

The committee did not take any formal votes during the briefing. The chair closed the hearing after questions and the committee rose.

Next steps: the material will inform the Senate's budget deliberations during Senate budget week; staff said several items reflect member amendments and language changes tied to SB 30.