The Alaska Department of Corrections told the Senate State Affairs Committee on Feb. 13 that its proposed FY26 budget requests just over $481,000,000 while the department works to sustain recent gains on staffing and facility crowding.

Deputy Commissioner April Wilkerson, representing the department at the hearing, said the FY26 budget “reflects permanent full‑time positions” but did not specify the exact headcount in the presentation. The department presented the budget request and an overview of its four divisions and the Board of Parole to senators on the panel.

Why it matters: Corrections spending and prison population trends affect state operating and capital budgets, community safety and the delivery of health and rehabilitative services inside facilities.

DOC officials told the committee that, as of Jan. 1, 2025, the department had 9,767 individuals in its care and custody, about 4,200 of whom were held in jail or prison settings. The department reported roughly 3,382 people on probation or parole and 1,505 on pretrial supervision; 250 people were on sentence electronic monitoring and 364 were in community residential centers. The department also reported booking 26,998 offenders in fiscal year 2024, and noted releases are part of that throughput.

“We've worked hard to keep them below capacity for 3 years now,” Zane Niswonger, director of institutions, told the committee when asked about facility crowding. Niswonger said that after prior years of overcapacity — including bunks placed in gymnasiums — the department has shifted placements and used transportation and community placements to balance populations among facilities.

Department leaders said recruitment and retention remain central challenges despite recent improvement in correctional officer vacancies. Wilkerson said the statewide correctional officer vacancy fell from just over 17% when the current administration began in 2022 to below 5% this week, though some locations such as Seward still show higher vacancy rates.

Officials also highlighted longer‑term pressures: rising health care costs tied to an aging incarcerated population, aging infrastructure and obsolete systems that increase maintenance and upgrade needs, and continuing work to expand community placements and alternative treatment programs.

The department noted organizational changes and administrative oversight adjustments intended to focus on budgeting and workforce priorities. Chair Kawasaki and committee members asked for additional historical population trend analysis and more detail about drivers of population decline and capacity changes.

Ending: Committee staff said they would work with DOC to request additional written analysis, including a multi‑year population trend and drivers behind recent capacity changes. The committee adjourned at 5 p.m.