Budget, Policy & Sentencing

Georgia Department of Corrections Budget FY2026-FY2027

53 Data Points 4 Sources 19 Entities Research Date: Feb 28, 2026

The Governor's Budget Report for Georgia's Department of Corrections details budgets for Amended FY 2026 and FY 2027, revealing total department funding approaching $1.8 billion with the largest increases directed toward health services (up to $432 million in FY 2027) and state prisons. Significant investments target physical health contract per diem increases, outside-the-wire care, managed access and drone detection systems for contraband prevention, additional correctional officer positions to improve staff-to-offender ratios, and expansion of private prison bed capacity. The document also describes GDC's institutional structure, including its administration of more than 50,000 incarcerated persons across state prisons, county prisons, detention centers, transition centers, private prisons, RSAT centers, and reentry facilities.

Where this research is used

This page is a research collection: individual facts drawn from the sources listed further down, each traced to where it came from. A research topic brings many collections together into one overview of an issue. The facts on this page feed these 7 topics; open one to see how they fit with the rest of the evidence.

Budget & Spending

Georgia's prison budget rose from $1.53 billion in fiscal 2024 to an all-time peak of $1.91 billion in fiscal 2025, then settled near $1.79 billion for fiscal 2027. Across that arc the money moved toward health contracts, private beds and surveillance technology while the state-operated prison program, food service and education shrank. GPS's own budget series has since corrected several of its earlier headline claims, and the gap between what the state appropriates and what it can show for it remains the central accountability problem.

11,375 data points

Facility Conditions & Infrastructure

Georgia's prison system is physically failing: a stock of buildings whose average age exceeds 30 years and whose design life the state's own commissioner puts at 15 to 20, run at multiples of their original design capacity, with locks that do not lock, plumbing that does not drain, mold that is not removed and housing that is not cooled. A 2024 federal findings report, a 2024 Senate study committee and a December 2024 consultant assessment all reached the same conclusion in different words — that the physical plant is an emergency. The state's answer has been a $600 million construction-and-repair program whose own timelines, the commissioner has said, will run years past the funding window.

11,131 data points

Parole & Sentencing

Parole in Georgia is a discretionary act of executive clemency, and the record shows that discretion narrowing to the point of near-refusal: parole releases fell from 16,772 in fiscal 1991 to 5,588 in fiscal 2025, the overall grant rate dropped from 38 percent in 2019 to 28 percent in 2024, and the life-sentence grant rate sits between 4.5 and 5.4 percent. Over the same decades the average time served before release on a life sentence rose from under nine years in 1973 to 29.6 years in fiscal 2025. The Board's own reports also leave contradictions unresolved — year-shifted tables, a fluctuating time-served series, and a life-decision volume that tripled while grants fell.

11,852 data points

Policy & Advocacy

Georgia's policy and advocacy landscape is defined by a paradox: a decade of bipartisan sentencing reform that measurably reduced incarceration and racial disparity, followed by a sharp reversal toward prison construction, surveillance technology, and record spending attached to no independent oversight. Legislative victories on wrongful conviction compensation, survivor justice, and out-of-time appeals sit alongside bills that died in the last minutes of session — an independent prison ombudsman, restrictive housing limits, parole transparency — and a post-conviction system the Chief Justice of Georgia calls 'a mess' that only the legislature can fix. The 2026 statewide elections and an unresolved federal investigation are the two live pressure points advocates are organizing around.

7,412 data points

Prison Nutrition in Georgia

Food adequacy, meal cost, commissary substitution, and nutrition-related health harms in Georgia prisons.

934 data points

Recidivism & Reentry

Georgia reports one of the lowest recidivism rates in the nation — a 25 to 27 percent three-year felony reconviction rate — but that figure counts only new felony convictions, only within three years, and only among people who survive the window. Georgia's own reconviction rate has climbed every year since 2019, reaching 30.7 percent for the 2022 release cohort even as the state spends more than a billion dollars a year on corrections, releases 12,000 to 16,000 people annually with almost no preparation, and funds vocational education at $172,000 statewide. The evidence on what works is unusually clear — education, vocational training, cognitive-behavioral programming, and transitional beds all correlate with substantially lower recidivism — and Georgia has systematized almost none of it at scale.

12,548 data points

Staffing Crisis

Georgia's prison system has run correctional officer vacancy rates above 50 percent since 2021, with ten of its largest facilities above 70 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's October 2024 findings and the state's own budget testimony. Turnover compounds the shortfall: 82.7 percent of officers hired between January 2021 and November 2024 left within a year, and Georgia ranks last among the 50 states in correctional officer pay. Federal investigators, state-hired consultants and the Georgia Senate Study Committee have each identified staffing as the primary mechanism behind the violence, delayed medical response and unchecked gang control documented inside the system.

9,994 data points

50,000 GDC administers prison sentences for more than 50… $1.8B Total GDC budget Amended FY 2026: $1.799 billion $1.8B Total GDC budget FY 2027: $1.779 billion $1.4B GDC State General Funds FY 2024 actual expenditur… $1.8B GDC State General Funds FY 2025 actual expenditur… $417.3M Health budget Amended FY 2026: $417.3 million

Key Findings

The most impactful data from this research collection. Tap a card for the full finding, GPS commentary on why it matters, and its source.

All Data Points

53 verified data points extracted from primary sources.

GDC administers prison sentences for more than 50,000 offenders Statistic

More than 50,000 offenders are serving prison sentences administered by the Georgia Department of Corrections.

50,000 offenders

demographics facilities

Total GDC budget Amended FY 2026: $1.799 billion Statistic

The total funds for GDC in the Amended FY 2026 budget are $1,799,204,979.

$1.8B vs. 1,712,067,948 FY 2026 Original Budget

budget

Total GDC budget FY 2027: $1.779 billion Statistic

The total funds for GDC in the FY 2027 budget are $1,778,839,635.

$1.8B vs. 1,712,067,948 FY 2026 Original Budget

budget

GDC State General Funds FY 2024 actual expenditures: $1.423 billion Statistic

GDC actual State General Fund expenditures in FY 2024 were $1,422,978,935.

$1.4B

budget

GDC State General Funds FY 2025 actual expenditures: $1.824 billion Statistic

GDC actual State General Fund expenditures in FY 2025 were $1,823,730,648.

$1.8B vs. 1,422,978,935 FY 2024 expenditures

budget

Health budget Amended FY 2026: $417.3 million Statistic

The GDC Health appropriation total funds for Amended FY 2026 are $417,255,739, an increase of $39,777,721 from the original FY 2026 budget of $377,478,018.

$417.3M vs. 377,478,018 FY 2026 Original Budget

budget medical

Health budget FY 2027: $432.2 million Statistic

The GDC Health appropriation total funds for FY 2027 are $432,247,728, an increase of $54,769,710 from the original FY 2026 budget of $377,478,018.

$432.2M vs. 377,478,018 FY 2026 Original Budget

budget medical

Amended FY 2026 physical health contract increase: $38.87 million Statistic

Amended FY 2026 increases funds for the physical health contract by $38,869,898, including per diem increase ($10,946,108), outside-the-wire care ($15,000,000), and opening of additional beds ($12,923,790).

$38.9M

budget medical

Amended FY 2026 outside-the-wire health care: $15 million Statistic

Of the $38,869,898 physical health contract increase in Amended FY 2026, $15,000,000 is allocated for outside-the-wire care.

$15.0M

budget medical

FY 2027 physical health contract increase: $47.88 million Statistic

FY 2027 increases funds for the physical health contract by $47,880,895, including per diem increase ($23,627,395) and opening of additional beds ($24,253,500).

$47.9M

budget medical

Amended FY 2026 mental health contract increase: $479,411 Statistic

Amended FY 2026 increases funds for the mental health contract to increase staffing ratios by $479,411.

$479,411

budget mental_health staffing

FY 2027 mental health contract increase: $1.92 million Statistic

FY 2027 increases funds for the mental health contract to increase staffing ratios by $1,917,644.

$1.9M

budget mental_health staffing

Amended FY 2026 dental health contract increase: $374,587 Statistic

Amended FY 2026 increases funds for the dental health contract to increase staffing ratios by $374,587.

$374,587

budget medical staffing

FY 2027 dental health contract increase: $1.50 million Statistic

FY 2027 increases funds for the dental health contract to increase staffing ratios by $1,498,347.

$1.5M

budget medical staffing

FY 2027 pharmacy contract increase: $3.68 million Statistic

FY 2027 increases funds for the pharmacy contract for a per diem increase by $3,681,328.

$3.7M

budget medical

Prior year funds used for physical health risk share obligations: $20.4 million Statistic

Amended FY 2026 utilizes prior year funds of $20,402,982 for physical health risk share obligations.

$20.4M

budget medical

State Prisons budget Amended FY 2026: $938.7 million Statistic

The GDC State Prisons appropriation total funds for Amended FY 2026 are $938,705,499, an increase of $36,746,804 from the original FY 2026 budget.

$938.7M vs. 901,958,695 FY 2026 Original Budget

budget facilities

State Prisons budget FY 2027: $914.9 million Statistic

The GDC State Prisons appropriation total funds for FY 2027 are $914,864,554.

$914.9M

budget facilities

Managed access and drone detection systems: $13.39 million (Amended FY 2026) Statistic

Amended FY 2026 increases funds by $13,387,475 for managed access and drone detection systems to prevent contraband in facilities.

$13.4M

budget contraband operations

FY 2027 managed access and drone detection: $10.79 million from existing funds Statistic

FY 2027 utilizes existing funds of $10,793,600 for managed access and drone detection systems to prevent contraband in facilities.

$10.8M

budget contraband operations

Additional correctional officer positions: $4.98 million (Amended FY 2026) Statistic

Amended FY 2026 provides $4,982,902 for additional correctional officer positions to improve staff to offender ratios based on improved retention.

$5.0M

budget staffing

Additional correctional officer positions FY 2027: $26.82 million Statistic

FY 2027 provides $26,824,134 for additional correctional officer positions to improve staff to offender ratios based on improved retention.

$26.8M vs. 4,982,902 Amended FY 2026 amount

budget staffing

One-time $2,000 salary supplement for state prison employees: $12.05 million Statistic

Amended FY 2026 provides $12,050,341 for a one-time salary supplement of $2,000 to full-time, regular state employees in State Prisons.

$12.1M

budget staffing

Private Prisons budget Amended FY 2026: $173.5 million Statistic

The GDC Private Prisons appropriation total funds for Amended FY 2026 are $173,540,164.

$173.5M

budget facilities

Private Prisons budget FY 2027: $177.8 million Statistic

The GDC Private Prisons appropriation total funds for FY 2027 are $177,767,784, an increase of $5,282,257 from the original FY 2026 budget.

$177.8M vs. 172,485,527 FY 2026 Original Budget

budget facilities

Jenkins and Riverbend funding increase to fully utilize beds: $1.05 million Statistic

Both Amended FY 2026 and FY 2027 increase funds by $1,054,637 for Jenkins Correctional Institution and Riverbend Correctional Institution to fully utilize available beds at the correct tier rate added in HB68 (2025 Session).

$1.1M

budget facilities

FY 2027 addition of 263 private prison beds Statistic

FY 2027 increases funds by $4,227,620 to add 160 private prison beds at Coffee Correctional Institution and 103 private prison beds at Wheeler Correctional Institution.

263 beds

budget facilities

Jail subsidy payment increase: $6.24 million Statistic

Amended FY 2026 increases funds by $6,242,030 for jail subsidy payments to local jails for housing Department of Corrections inmates.

$6.2M

budget facilities

Security threat group regional coordinators: 3 positions funded Policy

Amended FY 2026 provides $137,802 for start-up costs for three security threat group regional coordinators; FY 2027 provides $377,168 for full funding of three security threat group regional coordinators.

budget gangs staffing operations

Six canine handlers funded Policy

Amended FY 2026 provides $964,650 for start-up costs for six canine handlers; FY 2027 provides $624,652 for six canine handlers.

budget contraband staffing operations

Autry State Prison peer-led programming pilot: $150,000 Policy

Amended FY 2026 provides $150,000 for a pilot program at Autry State Prison to provide for peer-led programming.

budget policy reentry

Metro Reentry Facility additional programming funded Policy

Amended FY 2026 provides $93,179 and FY 2027 provides $39,786 for additional programming at Metro Reentry Facility.

budget reentry policy

Over Watch and Logistics (OWL) Unit annualization and technology: $6.76 million (FY 2027) Statistic

FY 2027 provides $1,238,495 to annualize personnel for the Over Watch and Logistics (OWL) Unit and $5,521,230 for additional technology costs for the OWL Unit to enhance safety, security, and technology.

$6.8M

budget operations contraband

Five managed access analysts funded (FY 2027) Statistic

FY 2027 provides $409,040 for five managed access analysts.

5 positions

budget staffing contraband

Five modular correctional units operational costs funded Statistic

Amended FY 2026 provides $880,104 and FY 2027 provides $1,760,207 for operations at five modular correctional units.

5 modular correctional units

budget facilities

Four modular correctional units food services funded (Amended FY 2026) Statistic

Amended FY 2026 provides $182,375 for food services at four modular correctional units; FY 2027 provides $364,749.

$182,375

budget facilities conditions

Lee Arrendale State Prison operations increase Statistic

Both Amended FY 2026 and FY 2027 increase funds by $1,542,179 for operations at Lee Arrendale State Prison.

$1.5M

budget facilities

High school diploma program accreditation staffing funded Policy

Amended FY 2026 provides $93,672 and FY 2027 provides $953,033 for required staff needed to meet accreditation requirements to operate a high school diploma program.

budget policy reentry

Public safety supplies and equipment: $2.45 million (Amended FY 2026) Statistic

Amended FY 2026 provides $2,450,500 for the purchase of public safety supplies and equipment.

$2.5M

budget operations

State Health Benefit Plan employer contribution rate reduction from 29.454% to 20.264% Policy

FY 2027 budget reflects a reduction in the employer contribution rate for the State Health Benefit Plan from 29.454% to 20.264%, resulting in significant reductions across all program areas.

budget staffing policy

FY 2025 State Prisons expenditures surged to $1.117 billion Statistic

GDC State Prisons actual expenditures in FY 2025 were $1,117,374,600, a significant increase from $821,265,828 in FY 2024.

$1.1B vs. 821,265,828 FY 2024 expenditures

budget facilities

FY 2025 Health expenditures: $389.9 million Statistic

GDC Health actual expenditures in FY 2025 were $389,939,841, up from $325,613,120 in FY 2024.

$389.9M vs. 325,613,120 FY 2024 expenditures

budget medical

Total GDC expenditures FY 2025: $1.914 billion Statistic

Total GDC expenditures in FY 2025 were $1,913,888,054, up from $1,526,654,104 in FY 2024, representing a 25.4% increase.

$1.9B vs. 1,526,654,104 FY 2024 expenditures

budget

CoreCivic and GEO Group operate private prisons in Georgia Finding

CoreCivic and GEO Group, Inc. own and operate select facilities in the state. Like state prisons, these facilities are typically reserved for felony offenders with more than one year of incarceration to serve.

facilities policy

RSAT is a nine-month intensive substance abuse program Policy

Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) is a nine-month, highly structured program that targets high risk, high needs inmates nearing release, probationers sentenced by the courts, parole revocators and other court or GDC-referred inmates who have a need for intensive substance abuse programming.

policy drugs reentry

Integrated Treatment Facility: nine-month co-occurring disorder program Policy

ITF is a nine-month, highly structured program that actively combines interventions intended to address both mental health and substance abuse issues in persons with co-occurring disorders with the intention of treating both disorders, related problems, and the whole person more effectively.

policy mental_health drugs

GDC reopened state prison as Metro Atlanta re-entry facility Policy

GDC has reopened a state prison facility that has been remissioned to function as a re-entry facility for the Metro Atlanta area. The facility focuses on rehabilitating offenders to achieve recidivism reduction and accommodate re-entry needs, connecting offenders pre- and post-release with local stakeholders in employment, housing, education, treatment, and other services.

policy reentry facilities

GDC legal authority under Titles 9, 17, and 42 of O.C.G.A. Legal fact

GDC operates under the authority of Titles 9, 17, and 42 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.

legal

Trend: GDC total expenditures rose 25% from FY 2024 to FY 2025 Trend

GDC total expenditures increased from $1,526,654,104 in FY 2024 to $1,913,888,054 in FY 2025, a 25.4% increase, before the FY 2026 original budget was set at $1,712,067,948.

budget

Trend: Health spending growing rapidly as share of GDC budget Trend

GDC Health expenditures grew from $325,613,120 in FY 2024 (21.3% of total) to $389,939,841 in FY 2025 (20.4% of total), with the Amended FY 2026 budget at $417,255,739 (23.2%) and FY 2027 at $432,247,728 (24.3%).

budget medical

Trend: Federal and other funds declining sharply Trend

GDC federal and other funds declined from $103,675,170 in FY 2024 to $90,157,406 in FY 2025 and are budgeted at only $16,769,671 for FY 2026 and FY 2027, placing nearly all funding burden on state general funds.

budget

FY 2027 food contract increase: $528,167 Statistic

FY 2027 increases funds for food contracts by $528,167 under the State Prisons appropriation.

$528,167

budget conditions

POST certified officer retirement benefit enhancement funded (FY 2027) Policy

FY 2027 provides funds across multiple program areas to enhance the retirement benefit for select POST certified law enforcement officers who are members of GSEPS by increasing employer contribution to the savings plan, including $2,095,612 for State Prisons, $275,818 for Detention Centers, and $151,718 for Transition Centers.

budget staffing policy

Sources

4 cited sources backing this research.

Primary Official report

Governor's Budget Report Amended FY 2026 and FY 2027 - Department of Corrections

Office of the Governor, State of Georgia — Governor's Budget Report (Jan 1, 2025)

Primary Official report

Governor's Budget Report Amended FY 2026 and FY 2027 — Department of Corrections

— Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, State of Georgia (Jan 1, 2025)

Primary Legislation

HB68 (2025 Session) — Georgia General Assembly

— Georgia General Assembly (Jan 1, 2025)

Primary Legal document

Official Code of Georgia Annotated — Titles 9, 17, and 42

— State of Georgia

Key Entities

Organizations, people, facilities, and other named entities referenced in this research.

Arnall North Basic Correctional Officer Training Building [facility]

Autry State Prison [facility]

Clayton Transition Center [facility]

Coffee Correctional Institution [facility]

CoreCivic [organization]

GEO Group [organization]

Georgia Correctional Industries [organization]

Georgia Department of Corrections [organization]

Georgia State Employees' Pension and Savings Plan [program]

HB68 [legislation]

Integrated Treatment Facilities [program]

Jenkins Correctional Institution [facility]

LaGrange Transition Center [facility]

Lee Arrendale State Prison [facility]

Metro Reentry Facility [facility]

Over Watch and Logistics Unit [program]

Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Centers [program]

Riverbend Correctional Institution [facility]

Wheeler Correctional Institution [facility]