Vera Institute of Justice

Persistent fiscal challenges in the United States have spurred greater scrutiny of government spending. States’ corrections expenditures are receiving considerable attention. Yet the true taxpayer cost of prison reaches far beyond these numbers. State corrections budgets often fail to reflect certain costs — such as employee benefits, capital costs, in-prison education services, or hospital care for inmates — covered by other government agencies. Additionally, the cost of underfunded contributions for corrections employees’ pension and retiree health care plans must be included in a comprehensive accounting of prison costs. In partnership with the Pew Center on the States, Vera developed a tool to calculate these costs and create a more holistic view of what taxpayers are paying to maintain these systems. Vera calculated the total cost of prisons by analyzing expenses funded through all state and federal revenue sources in the fiscal year 2010. Vera collected prison costs, in corrections departments and beyond, through a survey of the departments of corrections in all 50 states. Vera then used publicly available data on the costs of underfunded contributions to pensions and retiree health care and on indirect costs to state administrative agencies. Analysts estimated the costs of contributions to pensions and retiree health care for states that could not provide these amounts.