OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-1059
AN ACT CONCERNING THE OFFICE OF THE CORRECTION
OMBUDS, THE USE OF ISOLATED CONFINEMENT, SECLUSION
AND RESTRAINTS, SOCIAL CONTACTS FOR INCARCERATED
PERSONS AND TRAINING AND WORKERS' COMPENSATION
BENEFITS FOR CORRECTION OFFICERS.
As Amended by Senate "A" (LCO 10009)
Senate Calendar No.: 348
Primary Analyst: ME 6/5/21
Contributing Analyst(s):
Reviewer: PR
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Correction, Dept. GF - Cost 0.5-1.0
million
2.2-4.4
million
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Cost 0.2-0.4
million
0.9-1.8
million
Governmental Accountability,
Off.
GF - Cost 482,826 496,951
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
2
GF - Cost 194,451 200,285
Correction, Dept. GF - Potential
Cost
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill makes various changes regarding the laws that govern the
Department of Correction (DOC) and results in the impact listed
below.
1
The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 41.3% of payroll in FY 22 and FY 23.
2
The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 41.3% of payroll in FY 22 and FY 23. 2021SB-01059-R01-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 3
Section 1 expands the correction ombuds program to include all
inmates in DOC custody and relocates the program to the Office of
Governmental Accountability (OGA) resulting in a cost to the OGA.
To meet the requirements of the bill the OGA will have to hire one
ombudsman and six supporting staff resulting in a cost of $677,277 in
FY 22 and $697,235 in FY 23 (costs include salary, other expenses, and
fringe benefits).
The current ombuds program is only for juvenile inmates (less than
35 inmates are under 18) and the bill expands this to the entire DOC
population, which is 8,965 inmates as of 4/23/21.
Section 2 requires increased supervision of isolated inmates,
decreases the use of restraints, and allows inmates to receive at least
6.5 hours of out of cell time per day which results in a cost to DOC. To
meet the requirements of this section the DOC will have to hire
between 44-88 additional correction officers for a cost of $0.8-1.5
million in FY 22 and $3.2-$6.3 million in FY 23 (costs include salary,
other expenses, and fringe benefits).
3
Section 2 also requires a physician and therapist to conduct a
physical examination and mental health evaluation within 24 hours of
placing an inmate in isolated confinement resulting in a potential cost
to DOC. Physicians and therapists typically work first-shift, Monday-
Friday at DOC facilities and are on-call all other times. To the extent
this section results in more medical staff being on-call in order to
perform evaluations there is a potential cost to the state.
Senate "A" makes various changes resulting in the elimination of the
revenue loss in the underlying bill and a reduction to the cost and the
potential cost to the DOC, described below.
The amendment removes the requirement that each inmate
receive two free sixty-minute phone calls per week which
3
These changes take effect in FY 23, but a quarter year of salary is needed in FY 22 to
train the new correction officers. The cost assumes each DOC facility will add one to
two additional correctional officer posts for the first and second shifts. 2021SB-01059-R01-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 3
removes the $7.8 million revenue loss to the Department of
Emergency Services and Public Protection, Judicial Department,
and the DOC. This also reduces the annual cost to the DOC by
$5.7 million.
The amendment removes the requirement that the DOC
provide free writing and postage supplies to inmates which
reduces the cost to DOC in the underlying bill by $400,000 per
year.
The amendment removes the requirement that physician and
therapist evaluations occur before an inmate is placed in
isolation and allow examinations to be conducted within 24
hours which reduces the potential cost to the DOC in the
underlying bill. Physicians and therapists typically work first-
shift, Monday-Friday at DOC facilities and are on-call all other
times.
The amendment removes sections 4-8 which eliminates the
potential cost to the DOC if correction officers met the
conditions and applied for workers compensation benefits for
post-traumatic stress injuries.
The amendment also makes various technical changes which result
in no fiscal impact to the state.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.
The preceding Fiscal Impact statement is prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly,
solely for the purposes of information, summarization and explanation and does not represent the intent of the
General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety
of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is
consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any
specific department.