ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia Department of Corrections asked state lawmakers Tuesday for $372 million to improve a prison system the Justice Department criticized last fall in a scathing report.
Most of the additional investments would go toward hiring more correctional officers and pay raises aimed at gaining parity with neighboring states.
In a 94-page report following a multi-year investigation, the Justice Department accused the state prison system of violating inmates’ constitutional rights by failing to protect them from widespread violence.
“We want to make sure our prisons are safe for our employees, safe for our inmates, and safe for the public,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, said Tuesday during a joint meeting of House and Senate subcommittees formed last summer to explore funding levels needed to improve safety inside the state prisons.
Many of the spending recommendations Georgia Commissioner of Corrections Tyrone Oliver outlined Tuesday came from Chicago-based Guidehouse Inc., a consultant the state hired last June after an inmate at Smith State Prison in Glennville shot and killed a food-service worker before turning the gun on himself.Â
“Public safety is the No.-1 priority of state government, and that is why we have taken a comprehensive and deliberate approach to strengthening law enforcement and improving our corrections system,” Kemp said Tuesday. “I want to thank the teams at Guidehouse for their diligent and detailed work over the past several months, as well as the Department of Corrections personnel who have been helpful at every step of this process and who face incredible challenges each day to keep violent criminals behind bars.”
The spending recommendations include providing 4% pay raises for correctional officers as well as education, chaplain, food service and maintenance personnel. Behavioral health counselors would receive 8% salary increases.
The corrections agency also wants to hire 330 additional correctional officers to improve staff-to-inmate ratios.
The spending plan also calls for $40 million to plan and design a new prison and $93 million in additional funds for sitework and construction associated with four 126-bed modular correctional units.
Another $2.8 million would go to develop a statewide marketing initiative to recruit new correctional officers and $900,000 to update the officer training curriculum.
Tuesday’s presentation was highly unusual in that Georgia governors historically don’t present budget recommendations to the General Assembly until the first week of the annual legislative session. Lawmakers won’t convene the 2025 session under the Gold Dome until next week.
“It shows the emphasis (Kemp) and us are putting on this issue,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin. “This has been studied and studied. It’s time to get something done.”