Budget, Policy & Sentencing
Georgia Department of Corrections Budget FY2026-FY2027
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.
Key Findings
The most impactful data from this research collection.
$1.8B
Georgia spends $1.8 billion annually on prisons
StatisticAll 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
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. FY 2026 Original 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. FY 2026 Original 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
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. FY 2024 expenditures
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. FY 2026 Original Budget
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. FY 2026 Original Budget
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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. FY 2026 Original Budget
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
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
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
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
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. Amended FY 2026 amount
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
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
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. FY 2026 Original Budget
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Five managed access analysts funded (FY 2027) Statistic
FY 2027 provides $409,040 for five managed access analysts.
5 positions
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
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. FY 2024 expenditures
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. FY 2024 expenditures
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. FY 2024 expenditures
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.
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 h…
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 probl…
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, connec…
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.
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.
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%).
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.
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
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 Stat…
Sources
4 cited sources backing this research.
Primary
Official report
Governor's Budget Report Amended FY 2026 and FY 2027 - Department of Corrections
Primary
Official report
Governor's Budget Report Amended FY 2026 and FY 2027 — Department of Corrections
Primary
Legislation
HB68 (2025 Session) — Georgia General Assembly
Primary
Legal document
Official Code of Georgia Annotated — Titles 9, 17, and 42
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]
Related Topics
Research topics that draw on data from this collection.
Budget & Spending
Georgia's corrections budget peaked at $1,913,888,054 in FY2025 actual spending before declining to roughly $1.79 billion for FY2027 — but the size of the increase depends on which documents you read. GPS's canonical budget database accounts for about $154 million in combined AFY2026/FY2027 line-item changes, against a widely circulated $634 million "largest increase in state history" figure that cannot be reconciled with the appropriations record. Within the envelope, money has shifted away from state-operated prisons (−$187.5 million, −16.78%) toward private prison contracts, health services, and offender management, while food, education, and rehabilitation line items stayed flat or were cut.
6,250 data points
Facility Conditions & Infrastructure
Georgia's prison system has run past its design capacity for fifty years, and the physical plant — locks, water, cooling, fire systems, and kitchens — has degraded faster than the state has documented or repaired it. GDC's own PREA audits, the Department of Justice's October 2024 findings, DPH food-safety scores, and the December 2024 Guidehouse assessment converge on a facility estate that requires "immediate intervention," while the state's $600 million repair program and a $436.7 million new-build near Washington State Prison move forward without a published facility-by-facility capacity or maintenance inventory.
6,783 data points
Parole & Sentencing
Georgia's parole pipeline has contracted sharply: the Board of Pardons and Paroles released 5,588 people in FY2025, down roughly 42 percent from 9,455 in FY2019, while the share of people leaving prison at sentence expiration climbed. Life-sentenced Georgians now serve an average of 28 years before release — up from less than nine in 1973 — and the Board granted parole in 4.5 percent of life cases in FY2024. The result is a smaller, later, more selective release system operating alongside an aging prison population and record corrections spending.
11,379 data points
Policy & Advocacy
Georgia's prison policy is a documented record of what the state has chosen to fund, pass, and leave untouched. Two decades of bipartisan sentencing reform — H.B. 1176, H.B. 310, S.B. 174, Act 226 — produced measurable reductions in commitments and probation volume, yet the highest-impact structural proposals (parole expansion, independent oversight, habeas reform) remain unenacted or, in the case of oversight, never introduced at all. Against a $600 million emergency spending package and a 2024 DOJ Eighth Amendment finding, the evidence base assembled here shows reform costing a fraction of one percent of GDC's budget and a 2026 statewide candidate field in which only 3 of 30-plus candidates have detailed prison policy positions.
6,932 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 measures reentry success with a single narrow number — felony reconviction within three years — which has ranged from roughly 24 to 31 percent over the past decade and excludes misdemeanor arrests, parole and probation violations, reoffending after year three, and everyone who dies before the window closes. Behind that number, the state releases roughly 12,000 to 16,000 people a year — more than half at sentence expiration with no parole supervision — into a reentry system with 2,344 transitional beds, no dedicated reentry line item in the GDC budget, and a first-two-weeks death risk 12.7 times the general population's. The interventions that reduce recidivism are among the best-evidenced in corrections; Georgia's spending on them is a rounding error.
8,109 data points
Staffing Crisis
Georgia's correctional officer vacancy rate has held at or above roughly 50 percent since mid-2021, with the U.S. Department of Justice documenting rates above 70 percent at ten of the largest state facilities and 20 of 34 prisons operating at what state consultants called emergency staffing levels. The department has lost more than half its officer corps since 2014, 82.7 percent of new hires leave within their first year, and the resulting gaps in post coverage are documented in homicide case files, federal findings, and officer testimony. Repeated pay and hiring investments — including millions in the FY2026–FY2027 budgets — have not produced a documented staffing recovery.
3,119 data points