State [Inmate] Pay increase
Spike CO
In 2023, the CO Department of Corrections drastically decreased the State (Inmate) pay that an offender earned while incarcerated. To earn State Pay, offenders participate in educational programming, work assignments (porters, kitchen staff, etc.). Those that had industry jobs, such as saddle making, wild horse management, received higher rates of pay.
Those who do not participate in programming or industry jobs receive half the State Pay AND also reduced benefits/access to facility support services, such as the library, recreation, barber shop.
The decrease in 2003 was so drastic, that the Dept feared riots as well as work strikes from offenders to the extent officers were armed.
The goal is to match the national norm of $2.00 a day, however this will be a gradual approach taking 7 years.
The information shown below is from the Department of Corrections, JBC FY24-25 Budget Briefing Summary
R11 INMATE PAY: The Department requests an increase of $586,190 General Fund in FY 2024-25 to “begin a phased approach over the next several years to bring average daily inmate pay to parity with the 2023 national average of around $2.00 per day.” The request notes that the current daily rate is about $0.86 per day in most cases.
As shown in the table below, this phased approach would cost about $4.5 million General Fund through FY 2030- 31. This was calculated by adding $500,000 annually to the base appropriation, plus a 3.0 percent inflation rate that accounts for the price of goods that inmates can purchase from the DOC canteen (e.g. snacks, hygiene products, cosmetics, hobby supplies, etc.).
The current appropriation—about $2.4 million General Fund—is below FY 2002-03 levels even though the national inflation rate has increased by 69.39 percent since then. The main reason for this gap is a $1.4 million budget reduction that occurred in FY 2003-04, paired with only minimal annual increases in the two decades that followed.
[Personal note: Although the objective is to raise the State pay to $2.00 a day, it can be expected that the $2.00 daily pay rate may be increased due to the length of time it will take to implement.]
