State Board Approves $3.4 Million To Cover Unanticipated Prison Costs
CARSON CITY – The state Board of Examiners today approved a request by the Nevada Department of Corrections for $3.4 million to cover unanticipated expenses, much of it to cover the increased cost of providing inmate medical care.
The board, made up of Gov. Jim Gibbons, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller, approved the request for the current fiscal year that ends June 30. It now goes to the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee for approval on June 24.
If approved, the request will put a big dent in the $11.2 million IFC Contingency Fund, which is used to pay for unanticipated costs and expenses in-between sessions of the Legislature. State budget Director Andrew Clinger said the fund will be used to pay for any firefighting costs the state may incur this summer and fall.
A memo provided to the board from the Corrections Department indicated that medical care costs, including a revised contract to provide HIV drugs to inmates, was the major reason for the funding request. Increased personnel costs were also a factor.
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