A new report shows that most states under-report the cost of prisons. “Prison costs outside the corrections budget fall under three categories: (1) costs that are centralized for administrative purposes, such as employee benefits and capital costs; (2) inmate services funded through other agencies, such as education and training programs; and (3) the cost of under-funded pension and retiree health care plans,” reports The Vera Institute of Justice, in conjunction with the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project.
Vera examined corrections budgets for 40 states and found that cost was about 14 percent higher than reported. The states reported spending a combined $33.6 billion. However, after factoring in the costs “outside the corrections budget,” an additional $5.4 billion showed that the real cost for corrections was $39 billion. The report found that the growth in states’ corrections budgets has been because of policy choices, not “social or economic trends beyond policy makers’ influence.” Vera suggest that states can develop practices that protect public safety and control correctional costs by reviewing sentencing and release policies, focuing on recidivism reduction strategies, and by operating prisons more efficiently.
