The Rising Costs of Corrections

February 27th, 2013

Mississippi’s corrections costs are on the rise. As shown below in Figure 1, the composite annual cost (an average of the average cost of housing an inmate in all state facility beds) has increased 23% from 2005 to 2011. Furthermore, calculations estimate that the annual cost of housing an inmate will rise to $18,522 by the year 2017.

While this type of analysis is useful, a stronger infrastructure for fiscal analysis on corrections policy is warranted. Some ways to accomplish this goal are:

A State Task Force: This task force could conduct a detailed analysis of our state’s sentencing and corrections data and solicit input from various stakeholders to identify ways to improve public safety in our state; and

Fiscal Notes: Fiscal notes provide strong financial estimates that assist state legislators in recognizing potential cost benefits and better allocating budgetary resources.

It is also increasingly important that our leaders consider ways to mitigate the rising costs of corrections in our state. States like Texas, South Carolina, and Georgia have implemented several reforms to control and strengthen corrections spending in order to ensure that state dollars are more efficiently spent while also maintaining a high level of public safety.

MEPC will continue to explore some of these potential reforms in the upcoming weeks.

Author: Francinia McKeithan Henry, Policy Analyst/ SFAI Policy Fellow