Department of Corrections
| Average Annual FTEs | Near General Fund State | Other Funds | Total Funds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Dollars in Thousands) | ||||
| Current Budget | 9,390.6 | 2,968,788 | 20,995 | 2,989,783 |
| 2023-25 Maintenance Level | 9,396.0 | 3,028,411 | 28,045 | 3,056,456 |
| Difference from 2023-25 Original | 5.4 | 59,623 | 7,050 | 66,673 |
| % Change from 2023-25 Original | 0.06% | 2.0% | 33.6% | 2.2% |
2024 Policy Other Changes |
||||
| Relocation of Field Offices | 0.0 | 3,014 | 0 | 3,014 |
| Radio System Replacement | 0.0 | 1,209 | 0 | 1,209 |
| Reduce Mandatory Overtime | 68.1 | 9,569 | 0 | 9,569 |
| Sentencing Alternative Services | 0.0 | 3,979 | 0 | 3,979 |
| OMNI Sentencing Calculation System | 0.50 | 5,899 | 0 | 5,899 |
| OMNI Sentencing Calculation M&O | 1.8 | 1,144 | 0 | 1,144 |
| Expand Amend Program | 10.2 | 3,121 | 0 | 3,121 |
| ISRB Funding | 2.2 | 534 | 0 | 534 |
| Resentencing & Reentry Support | 8.8 | 2,366 | 0 | 2,366 |
| Body Scanner Operations | 18.8 | 7,948 | 0 | 7,948 |
| Increase Community Supervision | 13.5 | 3,481 | 0 | 3,481 |
| SOTAP Caseload | 9.5 | 2,966 | 0 | 2,966 |
| Fatality Review Workload Increase | 3.9 | 1,018 | 0 | 1,018 |
| Maple Lane Moving Costs | 0.0 | (335) | 0 | (335) |
| Reentry Services & Supports | 6.1 | 2,450 | 0 | 2,450 |
| Reception Center Transportation | 10.7 | 2,972 | 0 | 2,972 |
| Administrative Support Costs | 0.0 | 5,000 | 0 | 5,000 |
| Reentry 2030 | 1.3 | 375 | 0 | 375 |
| Opioid Treatment Expansion | 13.8 | 4,700 | 0 | 4,700 |
| Phase Out Solitary Confinement | 33.4 | 18,517 | 0 | 18,517 |
| Pay Last Day for Jail Holds | 0.0 | 2,254 | 0 | 2,254 |
| Transgender Medical & Health Care | 23.7 | 12,783 | 0 | 12,783 |
| Transgender Housing Manager | 1.0 | 215 | 0 | 215 |
| 2024 Policy Other Changes Total | 227.3 | 95,179 | 0 | 95,179 |
2024 Policy Comp Changes |
||||
| State Employee Benefits | 0.0 | 664 | 0 | 664 |
| Pension Rate Month of Death Bill | 0.0 | 291 | 0 | 291 |
| Pension Rate PSERS Bill | 0.0 | 100 | 0 | 100 |
| 2024 Policy Comp Changes Total | 0.0 | 1,055 | 0 | 1,055 |
2024 Policy Central Services Changes |
||||
| Archives/Records Management | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Audit Services | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Legal Services | 0.0 | 90 | 0 | 90 |
| CTS Central Services | 0.0 | 1,050 | 0 | 1,050 |
| DES Central Services | 0.0 | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| OFM Central Services | 0.0 | 11,713 | 0 | 11,713 |
| GOV Central Services | 0.0 | 104 | 0 | 104 |
| 2024 Policy Central Services Changes Total | 0.0 | 12,983 | 0 | 12,983 |
| Total Policy Changes | 227.3 | 109,217 | 0 | 109,217 |
| 2024 Policy Level | 9,623.3 | 3,137,628 | 28,045 | 3,165,673 |
| Difference from 2023-25 Original | 232.7 | 168,840 | 7,050 | 175,890 |
| % Change from 2023-25 Original | 2.5% | 5.7% | 33.6% | 5.9% |
Policy Changes
Archives/Records Management
Adjustments are made for each agency's anticipated share of charges for archives and records management services provided by the Secretary of State's Office. (General Fund - State)
Audit Services
Adjustments are made for each agency's anticipated cost of audits performed by the State Auditor's Office. (General Fund - State)
Legal Services
Adjustments are made for each agency's anticipated cost of legal services provided by the Attorney General's Office. Because legal services expenditures are based on consumption, funding provided in the central service model is not all inclusive. The methodology to estimate consumption is a two-year average and allows for analysis to incorporate unique agency circumstances. (General Fund - State)
CTS Central Services
Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from Consolidated Technology Services (CTS) for the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Office of Cybersecurity, state network, enterprise and small agency IT services, enterprise architecture and data management, Microsoft 365 licenses, and other items. (General Fund - State)
DES Central Services
Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Department of Enterprise Services (DES) for Capitol campus costs; real estate, risk management, and small agency services; the Perry Street and Capitol Campus child care centers; enterprise applications, and other items. (General Fund - State)
OFM Central Services
Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Office of Financial Management for existing statewide applications, the One Washington program, and other central services. See Chapter 11 of the 2023-25 OFM Budget Instructions for allocation methodologies. (General Fund - State)
Relocation of Field Offices
The department's field offices house community supervision staff and programming, and they need to be easily accessible to individuals under supervision everywhere in the state. The sites supported with this funding will allow better access for individuals in the Marysville and Richland areas. One-time funding is provided for relocation and tenant improvement costs while ongoing funding supports lease increases. (General Fund - State)
Radio System Replacement
The 2023-25 budget provided funding to begin replacing outdated radio systems. Additional funding is provided to complete two radio system replacement projects and to purchase a mobile back-up radio system. A comprehensive assessment of the department's security equipment is funded in the capital budget to help develop an ongoing agency-wide radio replacement strategy. (General Fund - State)
Reduce Mandatory Overtime
Suitable prison staffing levels contribute to safer conditions for staff and incarcerated individuals. Use of mandatory overtime to maintain staffing standards can lead to staff fatigue, decreased morale, and slower response times. It also contributes to increased use of sick leave and lower staff retention rates. Over 97 full-time employees and funding are provided to reduce the use of mandatory overtime for correctional officers. (General Fund - State)
Sentencing Alternative Services
Funding is provided to offset increased service costs for residential treatment through the Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative program and increased costs for counseling and parenting classes through the Family and Offender Sentencing Alternative program. (General Fund - State)
OMNI Sentencing Calculation System
The department is currently updating the state's sentencing calculation system that determines the release date for incarcerated individuals and the end date for community supervision. The project is near completion and requires additional funding for data migration, data remediation and additional oversight. Additional oversight includes a quality assurance assessment and independent verification and validation testing. (General Fund - State)
OMNI Sentencing Calculation M&O
Funding is provided for initial maintenance and operations costs for the sentencing calculation system project that is expected to reach completion in fiscal year 2025. (General Fund - State)
Expand Amend Program
The Amend program is a public health-focused approach to correctional culture change developed by the University of California San Francisco that promotes a shift away from a disciplinarian correctional culture to a culture focused on rehabilitation and recidivism reduction. Funding is provided to continue and expand the collaboration between the Department of Corrections and the Amend program. Establishing Amend principles in Washington prisons improves the health and safety of both incarcerated individuals and staff. (General Fund - State)
ISRB Funding
The Indeterminate Sentence Review Board (ISRB) has experienced growth in the population under its jurisdiction. Funding is provided for additional administrative support and for a 7% compensation increase for the five board members. (General Fund - State)
Resentencing & Reentry Support
Recent State Supreme Court decisions and enacted legislation have changed sentencing for various crimes. As a result, the department has experienced an increase in workload related to sentence vacation and recalculation. In 2023, over 300 incarcerated individuals were resentenced. Of that amount, 134 people were released. Funding is provided to complete the increased sentence recalculation workload and to provide reentry services targeted to people exiting the system quickly due to changes in state law. (General Fund - State)
Body Scanner Operations
Funding is provided to operate body scanners at the Washington Corrections Center for Women and the Washington Corrections Center. Body scanners provide a minimally invasive approach to contraband detection for guests, staff and incarcerated individuals; they are also the only method for detecting foreign objects that have been ingested. The department will publish annual status reports on contraband detection resulting from the use of these scanners. (General Fund - State)
Increase Community Supervision
A recent workload study found that community corrections officers now spend approximately 3.2 more hours per month supervising people convicted of violent crimes than in 2004. Funding is provided to phase in 45 additional community corrections officers by fiscal year 2026 to increase supervision of people convicted of violent crimes and to provide support services that reduce recidivism rates. (General Fund - State)
SOTAP Caseload
Over the last five years, the average number of incarcerated individuals convicted of a sexual offense has increased by 355 cases per year. The department is provided with 16 FTE positions and funding to meet increased demand for Sex Offense Treatment and Assessment Programs (SOTAP) at the institution and in community supervision settings. (General Fund - State)
Fatality Review Workload Increase
Chapter 139, Laws of 2021 requires fatality reviews to be conducted when the death of an incarcerated individual is unexpected and anytime the Corrections Ombuds requests a review. Recommendations from these reviews often result in changes to the department's policies and practices. Funding is provided for six full-time employees to complete corrective action plans and audit ongoing practices for compliance with recommendations from unexpected fatality reviews. (General Fund - State)
Maple Lane Moving Costs
Funding is sufficient to cover costs of relocating staff and equipment from the Maple Lane facility which is now under the jurisdiction of the Department of Social and Health Services. This adjustment includes moving $671,000 in annual maintenance expenses from the department to DSHS beginning in fiscal year 2025. (General Fund - State)
Reentry Services & Supports
The department has health care discharge teams supporting seven institutions with reentry planning for individuals with the highest needs. To the extent possible, these teams support individuals with transitioning health care services to community providers and helping them apply for federal and state medical, food, cash, and disability benefits. Funding is provided to establish these teams at the remaining four institutions to support an estimated 683 individuals with high needs. (General Fund - State)
Reception Center Transportation
The department operates one reception and diagnostic center to process all incarcerated males prior to assignment in a state institution. This reception center is also used as short-term housing for individuals moving from one facility to another because of limited transportation resources. Overcrowding in these two populations can result in higher levels of infractions, gang solicitation, delays in mental health and substance use treatment, and solitary confinement of individuals identified as high risk for assault. This item provides one-time funding for vans and ongoing funding for 14.7 FTEs to eliminate delays in transporting people from the center and to allow direct transportation between facilities without a stopover at the center. (General Fund - State)
Administrative Support Costs
Funding is provided for administrative workload increases including IT support, public disclosure requests, recruitment and retention efforts, and overtime payroll processing. Additional resources will improve timeliness, accuracy, and overall responsiveness of key support functions. (General Fund - State)
Reentry 2030
Reentry 2030 is a national initiative to transform reentry services and bring them to scale within this decade. Funding is provided for 2.5 FTE positions to develop a roadmap that includes cross-agency collaboration and input from community providers and the Statewide Reentry Council. The plan must examine the role of the state's Medicaid 1115 Transformation Waiver to assist the state in meeting Reentry 2030 goals. (General Fund - State)
Opioid Treatment Expansion
Funding is provided to expand the use of medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder in prisons for individuals who were receiving treatment prior to entering DOC custody. Maintaining medical treatment for opioid addiction reduces mortality rates, increases participation in other substance use disorder treatments, and improves recidivism rates. (General Fund - State)
Phase Out Solitary Confinement
During the 2023 legislative session, the department committed to reducing solitary confinement in state prisons by 90% percent over the next five years. To reach this goal, the department has developed a new system-wide step-down reentry process and risk-reduction incentive-based programming to prevent an increase in violence. Funding supports prevention and diversion for at-risk individuals, policy development for alternatives to solitary confinement, enhanced programming for quality out-of-cell time, and a five-year phase-in of staff to escort individuals when out of their cells. (General Fund - State)
Pay Last Day for Jail Holds
Local jails play a vital role in housing people who violate terms or conditions of community supervision and require incarceration on a 15-day hold. The department does not currently pay jails for an individual's day of departure. To prevent jails from carrying the cost of care on the 15th day, funding is provided for the department to pay the last day of jail services at the standard daily rate. Funding is also provided to contract with a third-party entity to provide a statewide jail bed rate study by September 1, 2024. (General Fund - State)
Transgender Medical & Health Care
The department will modify policies, practices, and procedures to provide gender-affirming medical and mental health care services to transgender incarcerated individuals in accordance with the October 2023 settlement agreement with Disability Rights Washington. (General Fund - State)
Transgender Housing Manager
One-time federal funds dedicated to the department's transgender program and housing management services that expired on September 30, 2023. State funds are provided to maintain the program which oversees housing safety and other needs of transgender, intersex, non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals housed across the department. (General Fund - State)
State Employee Benefits
Funding is provided to increase the retiree health insurance subsidy, adjusting the cap from $183 to $193 per month and raising the base subsidy percentage from 50 percent to 60 percent. The insurance funding rates are set at $1,145 per month for fiscal year 2024 and $1,158 per month for fiscal year 2025. (General Fund - State)
Pension Rate Month of Death Bill
Funding is provided for contribution rate impacts associated with proposed legislation that ensures the continuation of benefit payments through the end of the month in which a retiree or beneficiary dies. (General Fund - State)
Pension Rate PSERS Bill
Funding is provided for contribution rate impacts associated with proposed legislation to include staff of residential treatment facilities and the Special Commitment Center in the Public Safety Employees’ Retirement System. (General Fund - State)
GOV Central Services
Adjustments are made to reflect each agency's anticipated share of charges from the Office of the Governor for the Office of Equity. (General Fund - State)
