Criminal justice subcommittee prioritizes prison expansion, children’s justice centers and court resources
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Summary
The Criminal Justice Subcommittee reported reductions and targeted reinvestments, recommending opening additional prison capacity, ongoing funding for Children's Justice Centers, court staffing and a $60 million one-time behavioral health treatment center among other priorities.
The Criminal Justice Subcommittee presented its appropriations report to the Executive Appropriations Committee, outlining reductions, selected reinvestments and top priorities for the coming budget cycle.
The presenter said the subcommittee reviewed 11 state criminal justice and public-safety budgets and seven audits, and “approved 26 reduction items for a total of 20,000,000 1 time, 15,000,000 ongoing.” The report also includes $61,000,000 in one-time increases tied to reductions, including $60,000,000 proposed for a behavioral health treatment center and $1,000,000 to buy out court leases.
Top priorities listed by the subcommittee include prison capacity (specifically opening the Bear 3 unit at the current corrections facility), making Children's Justice Centers an ongoing funded priority (the centers are described in the report as “statutorily required in code”), court workforce retention and investments in court systems such as replacing the legacy OTRAC system.
The subcommittee highlighted two pilot programs aimed at reducing adult and juvenile recidivism (pilots in Weber County and Salt Lake County) with an eye toward scaling along the Wasatch Front. Committee members thanked staff for their work; no formal, final appropriations vote on these subcommittee recommendations was recorded in this meeting.
Next steps: the subcommittee priority lists and reduction items were submitted to the full committee for consideration during the consensus process.