The conference committee on Senate Bill 2015 voted to remove a $5 million line item for a proposed diversion center and agreed to a series of budget adjustments for the Department of Corrections, members said during the meeting.

The committee accepted the House position on county jail overflow payments — $28,900,000 for state inmates held by counties — and agreed to several smaller line-item changes, including trimming a one-time contingency and reducing a software-and-technology add to $10,000,000, committee members said. The panel also discussed converting some equipment funding into a legislative line of credit if federal funds do not materialize.

The vote to strike the diversion-center funding was made from the committee floor; Chairman Clary moved to remove the line, and Senator Grama seconded. Elizabeth, the clerk, called the roll. Recorded votes in the roll call included Chairman Cleary (Yes), Senator Deavor (No), Senator Magram (Yes), Representative Seaman (No) and Representative Burke (Yes); the motion to remove the funding carried on that roll call, committee records show.

Why it matters: The diversion-center proposal prompted sustained debate about whether the state should fund a centralized facility for people experiencing homelessness, behavioral health crises, or substance use problems. Supporters argued a center could reduce costly criminal-justice contacts and long-term expenses; opponents said the concept had not been vetted through policy committees and that localities such as Fargo should handle local solutions.

Details of committee action and discussion:
- Transitional facility contracts: The Senate agreed to accept the House position on increased transitional facility costs tied to contracts the department has negotiated for county and regional facilities. Chairman Clary said he was “fine accepting what the House did there” given ongoing contract negotiations.
- Information technology: The committee agreed, by general consent, to tighten IT funding. Greg proposed reducing an SIP software/system upgrade add from about $11.3 million to an even $10,000,000; members indicated they would leave other IT numbers for later review.
- Contingency funding: The committee agreed to remove a roughly $1,000,000 contingency line the House had added, with members saying the department has reserves and the larger budget already increases the general fund.
- County overflow payments: Committee members accepted the House’s $28,900,000 figure for payments to county jails that are holding state inmates, with members noting the amount reflects negotiated contracts and direct costs counties are incurring.
- Equipment funding: Committee members discussed converting some equipment funding into a line of credit to be used only if federal funds are not awarded; several members described that compromise as a pragmatic way to avoid duplicative dollar-for-dollar replacements of federal reductions.
- Correctional facility program grants (House Bill 1549): Committee members clarified that a separate $1,500,000 appropriation tied to House Bill 1549 is intended for grants to county jails addressing county-jail inmates (a different population than the state-inmate overflow payments). The committee left that $1.5 million in place for further review.

On the diversion-center funding, Representative Wagner spoke in favor of keeping some state support, arguing a reduced amount could serve as a pilot and help prevent higher costs later in the criminal-justice system. Opponents said the proposal had not gone through policy committee vetting and that committing substantial state dollars now would be premature. Representative Wagner said: “I want to have a plan moving forward to say, how do we best deal with this?”

Next steps: Committee members asked staff to do additional research and reconvene Monday to finalize remaining items. Several members asked for more information on specific line items and cited the need to bring the conference report to their respective floors.

Ending: The panel handled multiple technical changes by general consent and used a recorded roll call only for the motion to strike the diversion-center funding. Members said they would return with more information and are scheduled to continue work on Monday.