Prison Funding Decisions in Florida. Prepared for the National Governors Association Executive Policy Retreat on Sentencing and Corrections May 2008

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1 Prison Funding Decisions in Florida Prepared for the National Governors Association Executive Policy Retreat on Sentencing and Corrections May

2 Inmate Population Historical and Projected Inmate Population (as of June 30, ) 140, , , , , ,000 80,000 72,007 77,316 84,901 92,844 60,

3 Factors Affecting Inmate Population Growth Sentencing laws such as the 85% rule, stricter sentencing guidelines (Criminal Punishment Code-1998), There were 39,289 admissions to prison in FY 06-07, up 7.0 percent from FY Year-and-a-day (366-day) sentences continue to increase as a percentage of total admissions 17.7% in FY as compared to 8.8% in FY The percentage of admissions for technical probation violations has fluctuated over the last four years from 27% to a high of 31% to its present level of approximately 29%. Overcrowded county jails Significant number of new felonies created 3

4 Funding Prison Construction Florida generally funds prison construction using General Revenue or bond financing State operated prison construction is funded using cash Construction of prisons operated by private contractors (GEO/CCA) are financed through bonding with the state paying the debt service Generally takes 3 years to build a brick and mortar prison from siting to occupancy Currently Florida has 55 state operated prisons and 6 privately operated prisons 4

5 Funding Process Begins The Criminal Justice Estimating Conference (CJEC) The conference, as required by statute, meets at least twice a year to develop official information relating to the criminal justice system, including forecasts of prison admissions and population and community supervision for the state planning and budgeting system. The conference includes staff from the Executive Office of the Governor, the Legislature, and the Supreme Court. The Legislature shall accept the projected estimate from the Criminal Justice Estimating Conference as accurate, but it is not obligated to fund any budget based on the estimate 5

6 Department of Corrections Role Using CJEC s estimates, the Department develops and updates annually a comprehensive correctional master plan to project the bed needs for the next 5-year period The Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) has a legal obligation under Florida law to request the level of funding (construction and operations) that the Department needs to meet the projected population Must stay within capacity restrictions which are set in statute. Otherwise, the State is at risk of Constitutional challenges to improper conditions of confinement 6

7 Obstacles to Planning Since February 2007 the CJEC estimate has been revised three times-each has resulted in significant increase in projected inmate population Feb Need 15,000+ new prison beds by FY Oct Need 26,000+ new prison beds by FY Feb Need 33,000+ new prison beds by FY Budgetary Restrictions The State of Florida was faced with a budget shortfall due to falling revenues and all areas of government faced tough decisions to balance the budget. 7

8 Factors Considered by DOC Existing sites Demographic information of the proposed site Proximity of Support Services Current and projected custody and program needs Inmate Labor Time Frame Budget 8

9 Developing a Budget Request With the projected population information and all relevant factors on the previous page considered, the Department presents a Budget Request to the Governor and Legislature.. In preparing the request, the Department calculated operating costs per inmate at $20,245 and the Capital Cost per bed at $54,905. Florida uses the Consumer Price Index to measure future construction costs In the next 5 years, if estimates prove correct, Florida will need to construct 21 major institutions, 11 work camps, 7 additional housing units at existing facilities and 1,200 bed expansions at existing work camps. The Legislature provided funding for to meet the CJEC estimate, using a combination of methods, including a private prison. 9

10 What will Florida Do Next? Continue to examine alternatives to traditional prison construction including use of temporary or modular structures; use of empty vocational-classroom space in existing facilities for prison beds; use of facilities that could be transferred from other state agencies to DOC; use of tents. Legislation passed requiring a thorough examination of the state s correctional practices and justice reinvestment programs and involving the Council of State Governments Justice Center staff on a Justice Reinvestment project Legislation was also passed that reduced felony penalties for certain driving offenses Focus on substance abuse programming to divert technical community supervision violators from prison Divert resources in the juvenile system to prevention programs and review of zero tolerance policies in schools Convening a Reentry Summit and the appointment of a Reentry Advisory Council to provide improved transition services to inmates returning to the community 10

11 Contact Information Presentation prepared through a collaborative effort of the Legislature s Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR), Florida Department of Corrections (DOC), and Executive Office of the Governor (EOG) Contacts: EDR: Kathy McCharen or Amy Baker (850) DOC: Secretary Walt McNeil (850) EOG: Michael Manguso or Randy Ball (850)