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Committee grills DOC on $200,000 pretrial expansion and how 12 positions were funded

Corrections & Institutions · February 26, 2026

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Summary

DOC told the Institutions Committee the FY27 request includes $200,000 to complete funding for a 12-position statewide pretrial supervision rollout; five positions were previously funded, three have been hired and DOC says hires are PPOs (probation and parole officers) whose duties can be shifted if programing changes.

DOC finance staff told the Institutions Committee that the pretrial supervision expansion is structured across multiple fiscal years and that FY27 includes a $200,000 request to finish funding a 12-position rollout. "When I say expansion, it's for those 11 okay, 12 positions," finance lead Romaine Bati said, describing that the positions were budgeted incrementally in FY25–FY27.

What the committee heard: Committee members asked several timing and accounting questions: how many positions are currently filled (DOC said three were hired and five funded in total), what the current spending on those filled positions is (committee-calculated total for five was about $610,462), and whether the $200,000 is additive to the existing $1.3M base. DOC clarified the $200,000 is an addition to the 1.3M base in FY27 intended to complete staffing for the 12 positions.

Role flexibility and risk: DOC said the new hires are classified as PPOs (probation and parole officers) and therefore staff duties are fungible depending on caseload. "They're PPOs," DOC said, adding that staff can perform other probation and field-office functions if the pretrial program were to change. Committee members welcomed this flexibility, noting it reduced the risk that staff would be left without roles if policy direction changed.

Next steps: The pretrial expansion remains under consideration by Appropriations; DOC said it is hopeful the governor’s budget language and appropriations will authorize additional hires to reach staffing at all 12 field offices if funding is approved.