Press Release: Corrections Overhaul Costs Mount for Wisconsin Taxpayers After Republicans Refuse to Approve Basic Justice System Reforms

State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 10/19/2026 03:11 PM CDT
Office of Governor Tony Evers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 19, 2026
Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov 
 
Corrections Overhaul Costs Mount for Wisconsin Taxpayers After Republicans Refuse to Approve Basic Justice System Reforms 
New estimates show taxpayers to pay 80 percent more for corrections reforms after Republicans reject governor’s plan to modernize state’s justice system 
Evers Administration works to make headway on corrections realignment plan despite continued Republican inaction as state hits record-high prison population 
MADISON — Wisconsin taxpayers will pay at least 80 percent more and be forced to wait even longer to realize sweeping improvements to the state’s correctional and justice systems after Republican lawmakers rejected Gov. Tony Evers sweeping corrections reform plan last year to modernize the state’s deteriorating prisons, stabilize the state’s prison population, and expand evidence-based programming to improve public safety and efficiency in the justice system and offered no comprehensive alternative of their own. 

When Gov. Evers unveiled the sweeping corrections reform plan as part of his 2025-27 Executive Budget over a year ago now, in February 2025, he billed it as the “safest, fastest, and cheapest” option to overhaul the state’s dated correctional system. The proposal included a complex “domino series” of projects at several Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) facilities that, coupled with necessary reforms to help stabilize the state’s skyrocketing prison population, were designed to ultimately close the 128-year-old Green Bay Correctional Institution, revamp Waupun Correctional Institution into a state-of-the-art “vocational village,” and convert Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools to advance 2017 Wisconsin Act 185 and utilize a regional approach to youth populations at smaller facilities, among other key projects. 

Gov. Evers’ plan was estimated to cost $325 million when it was unveiled last year and, had it been approved by Republican lawmakers through the biennial budget process, was expected to be completed in 2030. Now, after Republicans’ nearly 20-month delay in approving the governor’s plan, the price tag for Wisconsin taxpayers to fund the plan has ballooned to about $585 million—an increase of 80 percent—and the timeline for completing all of the projects is now late 2032 at the earliest.

Republicans have repeatedly refused to approve common-sense proposals by Gov. Evers to increase investments in local public safety, fight crime and reduce violence statewide, combat firearm-related deaths, focus law enforcement resources on violent criminals and crime, reform the state’s corrections and justice systems to improve efficiency and capacity, expand treatment and rehabilitation services and other alternatives to incarceration. 

“Wisconsin is decades behind other states in reforming our corrections and justice systems, including bringing corrections into the 21st Century, because Republicans who’ve controlled the Legislature for years refuse to take this issue seriously—and Wisconsin taxpayers are paying the price. The state’s outdated approach to criminal justice and corrections isn’t just dangerous; it’s expensive, too,” said Gov. Evers. “It’s an untenable and unsafe situation because Republican lawmakers have spent years rejecting data-driven policies that can help stabilize the prison population and keep us safe, refusing to build the necessary infrastructure to safely house that population, opposing hundreds of millions of dollars to expand mental and behavioral health service access, and failing to invest in ensuring people have the training and skills to be safe and successful when reentering our communities. Red and blue states alike across our country have recognized that we can improve community safety, stabilize population rates, support corrections staff, and reduce the likelihood that people will reoffend when they are released, all while saving taxpayer dollars at the same time. The longer Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin refuse to be willing to try to do the same, the more Wisconsinites will continue to pay, and our state’s criminal justice system will continue to fall even further behind.” 

As Wisconsin’s prison population continues to skyrocket above facility capacity and hits record numbers, Wisconsin taxpayers are paying more and more each year to incarcerate individuals in the state’s deteriorating institutions, meet increasing staffing needs and overtime costs, and maintain systems that fail to embrace evidence-based practices that reduce the likelihood of reoffending to help improve public safety. New estimates released by the Evers Administration today show that the average annual cost to house one individual in the state’s correctional facilities has gone up by over $10,000 per person over the last five years, including an increase of nearly $2,000 per person between 2024 and 2025 alone. The costs to taxpayers are being compounded by the state’s skyrocketing prison population, which hit a record high in 2026 and currently sits at 23,920. 
End of Year Population and Average Fiscal Year Cost of Incarceration Per Adult by Year
“It is crucial that the state make facility and policy changes to reduce the incarcerated population and ensure that every individual is housed safely and has access to the treatment, education, and reentry resources they need to be successful back in our communities,” said DOC Secretary Jared Hoy.

Despite continued inaction by Republican lawmakers, the Evers Administration, at the direction of Gov. Evers, is continuing its work to make headway on the corrections realignment plan to the limited extent it can in the absence of legislative action. While Republican lawmakers rejected the governor’s comprehensive corrections plan, the final 2025-27 state budget approved by the governor included $15 million to begin planning efforts and initial work on several correctional infrastructure projects. The State Building Commission released the funding last fall. The Evers Administration has been using the budget investment to continue to complete design work for the governor’s sweeping corrections reform plan, the next step of which is to bring on a construction manager to further design and begin the planning for full enumeration of the plan. Gov. Evers today announced the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) is launching a request for proposals to hire a construction management company to oversee the complex, statewide DOC realignment plan. 

Gov. Evers’ sweeping corrections reform plan is based on a series of projects statewide that will allow the department to shift its population to more appropriate sites over the course of several years. The governor’s proposal as introduced in his 2025-27 Executive Budget includes:
  • Converting LHS/CLS to a 500-bed medium- or minimum-custody institution for men. 
    • February 2025 estimated cost $9 million and September 2026 estimated cost $40 million;  
  • Converting Stanley Correctional Institution to a maximum-security institution with ability to “flex” as a medium-custody institution. 
    • February 2025 estimated cost $8.8 million and September 2026 estimated cost $62.9 million;  
  • Converting John Burke Correctional Center (JBCC) in Waupun to a female institution. 
    • No estimated cost in February 2025 and September 2026 cost of $328,000;  
  • Expanding capacity at Sanger B. Powers Correctional Center (SPCC) in Hobart to increase bed space by 200 minimum-security beds and complete a kitchen remodel 
    • February 2025 estimated cost $56.3 million and September 2026 estimated cost of $96.1 million; 
  • Converting Waupun Correctional Institution (WCI) into a state-of-the-art, medium-security institution that would be designated as the state’s first “vocational village.” Based on models from other states like Louisiana and Missouri, vocational villages emphasize vocational training and workforce readiness to ensure that individuals who have completed their time in Wisconsin’s correctional institutions have the resources, training, and skills to join our workforce and be contributing members of society to help reduce the risk of reoffending and improve public safety. WCI would close temporarily while major renovations were conducted, including demolishing the existing cell halls and replacing them with modern housing for 600 at medium security and establishing space for the “vocational village.”  
    • The project at WCI was estimated to cost $245.3 million in February 2025. The September 2026 estimated cost is $382.3 million. 
  • Closing Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI) with its residents moved to other maximum-security facilities.  
    • Decommissioning costs were estimated to be $6.3 million in February 2025 and are estimated to be $3.1 million in September 2026. 
It is important to note that these cost estimates assume that DOC is able to stabilize correctional facility population by leveraging the existing Earned Release Program (ERP) and the creation of a vocational readiness ERP option, which will require legislative approval, to implement the proposal. A copy of the department’s agency budget request is available here. 
An online version of this release is available here.
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