Gov. Dan McKee’s cost-saving proposal to move Rhode Island’s minimum security inmates into a segregated building within the state prison’s medium security by next January has been dropped because of projected high costs.
The governor’s recommended budget asked the General Assembly to allocate $1 million to close its mostly empty minimum security facility by the start of 2026. McKee’s administration projected an annual savings of $12.7 million for the state starting the fiscal year 2027, reducing per-inmate cost by more than $40,000.
But a feasibility study conducted by Miami-based CGL Companies for the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (DOC) found that the work needed to conduct such a move would cost the state between $67 million to $71 million.
CGL’s report notes that “Extensive modifications” would have to be made including new fencing, a new sally port at the rear of a new minimum security building, administrative spaces, along with more toilets and showers.
The new minimum security facility would have had a capacity for 192 inmates and no room to add beds should the state need to expand. The existing minimum security building, which is now at 19% of capacity, can house up to 710 inmates.
McKee’s office deferred comment on the scrapped plan to the Department of Corrections.
“The initial estimate was made prior to the completion of the feasibility study, and it was always contingent on the findings of the study,” Department of Corrections spokesperson J.R. Ventura said in an email.
Findings from the study were presented before the House Finance Subcommittee on Public Safety last week as part of its annual look at department budgets.
“A direct housing transfer was just not feasible,” Assistant Director Brenda Brodeur told the committee.
Brodeur said prison officials will now look to find budget savings through reductions in overtime spending, which the Department of Corrections has increased in recent years due to triple-digit vacancies.
A presentation to the subcommittee from House Fiscal Office staff notes that the state’s prison had 117 open positions as of March 22, which is expected to cost the state $42.9 million in overtime expenses by the end of the fiscal year.
There are 72 correctional officer vacancies.
McKee’s latest tax-and-spend plan assumes $36.8 million will go toward overtime expenses in the fiscal year starting July 1.
The governor’s proposal to consolidate the state’s minimum and medium security facilities quickly drew ire from the Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers, whose members nearly picketed one of McKee’s fundraisers in February.
RIBCO called off its protest after its members had “a series of productive meetings” over officers’ concerns.
Union president Richard Ferruccio wrote to the subcommittee that the officers are thankful to see the consolidation proposal scrapped, but wary of plans to reduce overtime spending.
“Staff and post reductions during a time of increased disciplinary problems and record drug problems is a recipe for disaster,” he wrote.
DOC Director Wayne Salisbury Jr. had sought to hire 150 more staffers under his proposal to the governor, but McKee opted to keep the department’s staffing at current levels.
This article was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
