An Augusta institution budgeted $11 million six years ago may now be on the chopping block.
Richmond County Correctional Institution, which houses up to 220 nonviolent state prisoners, has long been a source of inmate labor. But it desperately needs a new facility and has become a drain on city finances, officials said at a recent meeting.
The Georgia Department of Corrections reimburses RCCI and 20 similar facilities around the state $30 dollars per day, per inmate. The per diem was just increased by $6, adding an extra half-million to RCCI’s revenue, according to a recent presentation from its warden, Evan Joseph.
But the money doesn’t come close to covering operations at the 65-year-old facility, which has a full-time staff of 73. This year, RCCI will require a $2.6 million subsidy to stay operational, Administrator Tameka Allen said at the same meeting.
What Augusta gets out of the deal includes 27 work details. The crews of 5-8 inmates each are assigned to four city departments, the city-owned cemeteries, the Georgia Department of Transportation, the Augusta Canal and Richmond County Board of Education, Joseph said.
The biggest user is Augusta’s Engineering department, which is assigned 13 details, and the cemeteries have eight, Joseph said. Augusta Canal, the fire department and the school board have one each, according to the presentation. GDOT and Richmond County Schools pay toward their crews’ detail officers, he said.
Under Engineering, the stormwater fee program paid detail officer salaries totaling $183,943 in 2023 and $245,611 in 2024, according to the presentation. The amount spent was well under the city’s budget both years, he said. The state paid in a total of $1.825 million in 2023 and $1.957 million in 2024.
The city budgeted RCCI $4.8 million in 2023 and $5.2 million in 2024 from the general fund, and the facility came in under budget both years, he said.
“We don’t abuse the citizens’ money,” Joseph told commissioners. “Every year we ended the year with a surplus.”
Nearly all inmates are involved in one or more educational and job-skills programs at the facility, such as a GED program, forklift operator training, food service and landscaping. Working and completing the programs contribute toward their early release from prison, he said.
Joseph said RCCI’s value to the city comes from the work the inmates are doing. Residents who imagine a roadside work crew may have no idea inmates did work at Lake Olmstead Stadium, Henry Brigham Center during renovations, city parks and animal services. They even install Christmas decorations on Broad Street, he said.
But RCCI can’t continue to house prisoners without a new building or large-scale renovations, Joseph said.
“If we as a city want to continue in the prison business, we’re going to have to address some of the infrastructure issues we have with the facility,” he said.
City officials included $11 million for a new facility in SPLOST 8, which voters passed in 2021. The money was borrowed up-front as part of a city bond issue so is ready to spend. Joseph said a new facility will now cost at least $20 million.
Mayor Garnett Johnson said RCCI presents a “very serious” budget challenge. “We’re actually losing money in this relationship that we have with RCCI,” Johnson said.
Commissioner Don Clark envisioned inmates escaping a hurricane-damaged jail in New Orleans or a power loss allowing inmates to escape. The 65-year-old building creates “a lot of safety concerns,” he said.
Clark said he was “disappointed in our state partners,” who contribute the minimum to RCCI.
“They are putting the full ownership of maintaining a state facility in a local municipality with little to no reimbursement or consideration one way or the other,” he said.
Commissioner Francine Scott said the facility needs to be preserved.
“It’s a program I hope we are not considering cutting at all,” she said, recommending the city seek help from state legislators.
Commissioner Stacy Pulliam asked if Augusta had compared the value of the inmates’ work with the expense of hiring contractors or new city staff. Allen said she was compiling that information.
Monday, Allen announced she had invited the Richmond County legislative delegation as well as the commission for a “discussion” about RCCI. The meeting is scheduled for 10-11 a.m. Thursday in the Linda Beazley Room at Augusta Municipal Building.
