Correct me if I’m wrong: State corrections spending up

States will spend $40 billion to incarcerate and supervise offenders in fiscal year 2014, according to a new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. That’s 2.5 percent higher than the previous fiscal year, but there is a wide divergence in corrections spending among states.

North Dakota, for example, is seeing the second-highest spending increase this year among states, at 8.2 percent (see Chart 1), according to the NCSL report. South Dakota and Minnesota were other district states that saw costs rise faster than the national average.

The reason for North Dakota’s big increase is largely tied to its booming economy, which is drawing many new people to the region, especially among a demographic (younger males) more prone to have run-ins with the law.

Data on prison population and other corrections activity are not as up to date as budget figures. But leading up to this year, North Dakota’s corrections system was seeing increased pressure. The state saw its prison population increase 25 percent from 2003 to 2009, a trend that has subsided somewhat more recently, rising 3.5 percent from (fiscal years) 2011 to 2013, according to the state’s Department of Corrections. But the number of offenders on parole or probation (and needing supervision) has risen 12 percent from June 2011 to June 2013 (see Chart 2).

The mix of inmates housed has also changed, with a sharp rise in violent offenders and an increase in sex offenders, while the number of inmates with drug offenses has declined considerably (see Chart 3; 2012 data are the most recent available). Among drug offenders, the number incarcerated for drug dealing has risen slightly (8 percent), while the number in prison for simple possession has been cut almost in half.