State officials say pretrial facilities still face medical compliance and safety challenges as budget holds MRDCC funding

Department of Legislative Services analysts and DPSCS leadership told the Public Safety and Administration Subcommittee that Maryland's pretrial detention system faces persistent safety and medical-compliance challenges even as the FY27 budget largely holds prior funding levels.

DLS analyst Josh Weinstock said the DPDS FY27 operating allowance totals nearly $395 million, with proposed FY26-to-FY27 deficiencies of about $18 million driven largely by inmate health-care shortfalls. "The inmate health care contract accounts for a $107,000,000 or 27% of the allowance," Weinstock said, and he flagged a net increase in health-care-related deficiencies that contributed to an overall near-$10 million increase after adjustments.

Weinstock also described troubling performance trends: more than 16,100 individuals were processed in FY25 at Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center, and individual-on-individual assaults in pretrial facilities rose about 10% year-to-year and roughly 73% over five years. He said the youth detention center has an especially high assault rate compared with most facilities and noted that staff assaults also increased.

DPSCS Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs disputed one data point, saying the youth detention center (YDC) did not have the highest assault rate for the full comparison period cited and that BCBIC's rate was higher for the window referenced. "In pretrial, BCBIC actually had the higher assault rate," Scruggs told the committee, while acknowledging assaults remain a concern and the department is investing in training and staffing adjustments.

On court-ordered reforms, DLS recommended releasing $100,000 in general funds tied to a previously submitted report on the Duval v. Moore consent decree while withholding another $100,000 pending a new update documenting steps to achieve full compliance by June 2026. Weinstock's analysis showed DPDS in substantial compliance on some provisions but partial or noncompliance on several active medical provisions.

Scruggs said the department achieved compliance for the mental-health portion of Duval v. Moore and is continuing work on medical provisions with the monitor and its medical contractors. "We are in compliance for the mental health portion of Duval versus Moore," she said, noting a December court decision and ongoing monitoring and documentation as the department addresses remaining medical items.

DLS also noted the emergency closure of the Maryland Reception Diagnostic and Classification Center (MRDCC) last December and that FY27 still contains $64 million budgeted to operate the facility. Scruggs told the committee DPSCS safely transferred about 393 incarcerated people to other facilities and that the agency, together with the Department of General Services and the attorney general's office, is evaluating whether to repair MRDCC or permanently decommission it based on safety, cost, and system-wide capacity.

The committee pressed DPSCS on the Chesapeake Detention Facility contract, a new seven-year agreement to provide 384 beds for federal detainees that DLS said should be justified to explain whether it reduces general-fund need. DLS asked the department to explain how CDF's renewed terms reduce the state's general-fund exposure.

The subcommittee did not take formal action; members asked for follow-up reporting on medical provisions, MRDCC's long-term plan, and how other facilities will accommodate population shifts.

The department said it will continue to work with the monitor and to report further to the committee.