This explainer is based on Governor’s FY2027 Budget: Department of Corrections. All statistics and findings are drawn directly from this source.
News Lead
Georgia’s corrections budget has surged to $1,799,204,979 for the amended fiscal year 2026, an $87,137,031 increase over the original budget, as the state pours tens of millions into surveillance technology, private prison expansion, and healthcare contracts for the more than 50,000 people it incarcerates. The budget reveals a system under severe strain: healthcare costs alone are rising by $39,777,721 in FY 2026 and $54,769,710 in FY 2027, while the state funds $13,387,475 for managed access and drone detection systems and allocates $4,227,620 to add 263 new private prison beds.
The spending trajectory is stark. Total corrections expenditures jumped from $1,526,654,104 in FY 2024 to $1,913,888,054 in FY 2025 — a 25% year-over-year increase — before the state set the current budget levels. Rather than investing proportionally in rehabilitation or release preparation, Georgia is directing its largest new outlays toward containing and surveilling people already behind bars. The FY 2027 budget projects $1,778,839,635 in total spending, with healthcare consuming approximately 24% of the entire corrections budget at $432,247,728.
Meanwhile, the state continues to require incarcerated people to work in farm operations, food preparation, laundry, construction, facility maintenance, and factory work in Georgia Correctional Industries’ manufacturing plants — labor the budget document describes as mandatory but does not associate with any corresponding wage expenditure.
Key Takeaway: Georgia’s prison budget has ballooned to nearly $1.8 billion, with the state spending far more on surveillance technology and private prison beds than on rehabilitation or reentry programs.
Quotable Statistics
Population and Total Spending
– More than 50,000 people are serving prison sentences under the Georgia Department of Corrections.
– Amended FY 2026 total budget: $1,799,204,979 — an increase of $87,137,031 from the original budget.
– FY 2027 projected budget: $1,778,839,635.
– Total corrections spending jumped from $1,526,654,104 in FY 2024 to $1,913,888,054 in FY 2025 — a 25% increase in a single year.
Healthcare
– FY 2026 Health program total: $417,255,739 (approximately 23% of total budget).
– FY 2027 Health program total: $432,247,728 (approximately 24% of total budget).
– FY 2026 healthcare increase: $39,777,721, including $15,000,000 for outside-the-wire care and a $10,946,108 per diem increase for the physical health contract.
– FY 2027 healthcare increase: $54,769,710, including a $23,627,395 per diem increase — more than double the FY 2026 rate increase.
– Mental health staffing investment grows from $479,411 (FY 2026) to $1,917,644 (FY 2027).
– Dental health staffing grows from $374,587 (FY 2026) to $1,498,347 (FY 2027).
Surveillance and Security
– $13,387,475 in FY 2026 for managed access and drone detection systems.
– $5,521,230 in FY 2027 for additional Over Watch and Logistics (OWL) Unit technology.
– $409,040 in FY 2027 for five managed access analysts.
– $964,650 in FY 2026 and $624,652 in FY 2027 for six canine handlers.
– $137,802 in FY 2026 and $377,168 in FY 2027 for three security threat group regional coordinators.
Private Prisons
– FY 2026 private prison spending: $173,540,164.
– FY 2027 private prison spending: $177,767,784.
– 263 new private prison beds planned: 160 at Coffee Correctional Institution and 103 at Wheeler Correctional Institution, at a cost of $4,227,620.
Staffing
– $4,982,902 in FY 2026 and $26,824,134 in FY 2027 for additional correctional officer positions to improve staff-to-offender ratios.
Rehabilitation and Education (for comparison)
– Peer-led programming pilot at Autry State Prison: $150,000 (FY 2026 only).
– Metro Reentry Facility additional programming: $93,179 (FY 2026), $39,786 (FY 2027).
– High school diploma program accreditation staff: $93,672 (FY 2026), $953,033 (FY 2027).
Other Notable Items
– $6,242,030 increase in jail subsidy payments to local jails for housing state prisoners (FY 2026).
– $880,104 (FY 2026) and $1,760,207 (FY 2027) for operations at five modular correctional units.
– $1,542,179 annually for operations at Lee Arrendale State Prison, Georgia’s only state prison for women.
Key Takeaway: Georgia is spending more on a single surveillance technology contract ($13.4 million) than on all rehabilitation, reentry, and educational programming increases combined.
Context and Background
What this document is: This is the Governor’s Budget Report for the Georgia Department of Corrections, covering the amended FY 2026 budget and the proposed FY 2027 budget. It details how taxpayer money is allocated across every program the department operates.
Who it affects: More than 50,000 people incarcerated in Georgia’s state prison system, their families, and the communities to which the vast majority will eventually return. The budget is funded almost entirely by state general funds — $1,782,435,308 of the $1,799,204,979 amended FY 2026 budget comes from Georgia taxpayers, with only $809,589 in federal funds and $15,960,082 in other funds.
The healthcare crisis driving costs: Healthcare is the fastest-growing component of Georgia’s corrections budget. Physical health per diem increases more than doubled from $10,946,108 in FY 2026 to $23,627,395 in FY 2027. An additional $15,000,000 was added in FY 2026 specifically for outside-the-wire care — medical treatment that cannot be provided within prison walls. The state also utilized $20,402,982 in prior-year funds for physical health risk share obligations in FY 2026. These escalating costs reflect what happens when a state confines tens of thousands of people and bears constitutional responsibility for their medical care while the incarcerated population ages and healthcare costs rise nationally.
Mandatory labor: The budget document states that “GDC requires offenders in its facilities to work to support the prison system and the community,” listing farm operations, food preparation, laundry, construction, facility and landscape maintenance, and factory work. This mandatory labor is a significant part of prison operations but appears nowhere in the budget as a cost center for worker compensation.
Private prison dependence: Georgia relies on two private corporations — CoreCivic and GEO Group, Inc. — to operate select facilities. The state is expanding this dependence, adding 263 beds across two privately operated prisons in FY 2027. Private prison spending totals $177,767,784 in FY 2027.
Staffing acknowledgment: The budget explicitly recognizes that Georgia prisons are understaffed, allocating funds “for additional correctional officer positions to improve staff to offender ratios based on improved retention.” This investment jumps more than five-fold from $4,982,902 in FY 2026 to $26,824,134 in FY 2027, suggesting the state understands that its current staffing levels are inadequate to safely operate its facilities.
Facility types: Georgia operates a complex system including state prisons, county prisons, probation detention centers, transition centers, private prisons, Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) centers, integrated treatment facilities, and a re-entry facility.
Key Takeaway: Georgia taxpayers fund 99% of the corrections budget, and the state’s constitutional healthcare obligations are driving unsustainable cost growth while the system expands capacity rather than reducing the number of people behind bars.
Story Angles
1. The Surveillance State Inside Georgia’s Prisons
Georgia is investing $13,387,475 in FY 2026 alone for managed access and drone detection systems, plus $5,521,230 for the Over Watch and Logistics Unit’s technology, $409,040 for managed access analysts, and hundreds of thousands more for canine handlers and security threat group coordinators. Total new security and surveillance spending dwarfs investments in rehabilitation. This story would examine what these systems actually do, who profits from the contracts, and whether this spending makes incarcerated people safer — or simply more surveilled. Compare: a $150,000 peer-led programming pilot vs. $13.4 million for electronic monitoring systems.
2. The $432 Million Healthcare Bill: Why Locking People Up Costs So Much
Healthcare spending is approaching a quarter of the entire corrections budget and rising faster than any other category. Per diem increases for the physical health contract more than doubled in a single year (from $10,946,108 to $23,627,395). The state added $15,000,000 for outside-the-wire care and utilized $20,402,982 in prior-year funds for risk share obligations. This story would investigate who holds the healthcare contracts, what quality of care incarcerated people actually receive, and whether the constitutional minimums the state cites are adequate for human beings in its custody. Mental health staffing received only $479,411 in FY 2026 — less than half of one percent of the healthcare increase.
3. Georgia Expands Private Prisons While Relying on Modular Units and County Jails
Rather than addressing the root causes of incarceration, Georgia is expanding capacity in every direction: 263 new private prison beds at $4,227,620, five modular correctional units at growing operational costs ($880,104 in FY 2026, $1,760,207 in FY 2027), and a $6,242,030 increase in jail subsidy payments to county jails housing state prisoners. This story would examine why Georgia’s prison population continues to strain capacity, what conditions exist in county jails receiving increased state subsidies, and how CoreCivic and GEO Group profit from expansion while people inside report overcrowding and inadequate services.
Read the Source Document
Other Versions
- Public Version — A plain-language guide explaining what this budget means for incarcerated people and their families.
- Legislator Version — A policy-focused analysis with budget comparisons, program-level detail, and legislative context.