Corrections Budget Hearing Focuses on Staffing, Transgender Housing and Delayed Reentry Center

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) appeared before the subcommittee on Feb. 20 for a review of the fiscal 2027 allowance and program issues ranging from staffing to reentry services.

DLS analyst Josh Weinstock said the corrections allowance is down roughly $23 million (about 2%) to approximately $1.1 billion, after proposed deficiency appropriations. He noted average daily population (ADP) has increased since the pandemic and by December 2025 exceeded the pre‑pandemic trend line by more than 350 people; half of individuals in DPSCS custody were serving 15 years or longer. The analysis cited major cost drivers including personnel (4,899 regular positions in the allowance) and inmate medical care contracts.

Weinstock highlighted three focused issues for committee attention: (1) treatment of transgender individuals in custody — DLS reported transgender people made up less than 1% of the population but were overrepresented in restrictive housing placements and accounted for multiple settlements totaling just under $1 million over recent years; (2) the reentry passport program, intended to provide prerelease access to documents such as Social Security cards and birth certificates, which has produced account uploads but remains limited by incarcerated people’s inability to create email accounts while inside; and (3) delays to a mandated women’s prerelease center (the new life‑skills and reentry center) now expected to complete in fiscal 2031 with no capital funding requested in the fiscal 2027 capital budget.

Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs told the subcommittee nearly 3,000 "upgrades of vital documents have been completed by case management," described Project Fresh (women’s prerelease programming) and said the department continues to work with community partners to expand prerelease services despite the site selection pause prompted by stakeholder concerns. Scruggs also described a strong recruitment year — hiring 684 correctional officers in 2025 and 1,100 new employees overall — and said DPSCS has increased training, supervised internet cafes for supervised individuals and has conducted many site visits and academies to boost hiring and retention.

Union and community witnesses urged stronger staffing and more transparency. Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Council 3, said correctional staff are working "in unsustainable conditions," reported that "this past year in 2025, 13 incarcerated individuals were murdered in state correctional facilities" (a figure he characterized as a 40% increase from 2024), and cited roughly $220 million in overtime costs for DPSCS in 2025. AFSCME local leaders and correctional officers called for rejecting frontline position cuts and for improving compensation and staffing levels; they referenced vendor staffing studies that identified substantial additional staffing needs.

Advocates and academic witnesses pressed the department on data and oversight for transgender and gender‑nonconforming people. Michael Tynes of the University of Baltimore School of Law and representatives from TRAC asked the committee to maintain budget language requiring periodic reports and additional data on gender‑affirming care, PREA complaints and housing outcomes.

DLS recommended releasing a previously withheld $100,000 in general funds pending a DPSCS report on transgender treatment (DLS found the submitted report compliant), adopting committee narratives to track Project Fresh rollout and reentry passport metrics, and continuing budgetary oversight. DPSCS agreed to provide additional timelines and to continue policy revisions to reduce restrictive housing and expand alternatives.