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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 18, 2017 in a speech: \"It costs us about $33,000 a year (on average nationally) to lock somebody up. In California it costs about $75,000 a year.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" true/3d4df195c595a07e3fd69b5e4aab3e3c.jpg.\\") ![\\"true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Criminal Justice * Crime * State Budget * California * Kamala Harris ![\\"U.S.](\\" U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris. Associated Press file photo. ![\\"Chris](\\" By Chris Nichols August 9, 2017 # Does it cost $75K per year to lock up an inmate in California? U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris believes taxpayers aren’t \"getting a good return on investment\" when it comes to California’s prison system. The California Democrat told the Women Unshackled forum in Washington D.C. in July that alternatives to locking up inmates, such as drug treatment programs, are far cheaper and sometimes more effective than prison sentences. Her figures for California’s per inmate costs were eye-opening. \"Let’s look at the fact that there is an issue around how much we are paying — and again, this gets back to the economic cost — it costs us about $33,000 a year to lock somebody up. In California it costs about $75,000 a year,\" Harris said on July 18, 2017. Harris makes her claim at about the 16:50 minute mark in the video above. Harris made criminal justice reform a top priority during her time as California’s attorney general and has done the same so far in the Senate. Recently, she teamed up with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to push bipartisan bail reform legislation that would prevent minor offenders from sitting in jail if they can’t afford the cost of being released before trial. In discussing prison costs, Harris said governments should place a greater focus on crime prevention and drug treatment given the high cost of incarceration. We interpreted Harris\'s claim about per inmate expenses to mean the operational costs to house male and female inmates, including security, health care, facility upkeep and employee compensation. Advocates for criminal justice reform often argue that just looking at the operational costs of running prisons ignores the social costs of incarcerating Americans. We looked at those costs as well, but based our rating primarily on the evidence supporting the numbers Harris cited in her Women Unshackled appearance. Our research A spokesperson for Harris provided us with data on the cost of federal incarceration, from the independent Vera Institute of Justice, as well as numbers for California, based on Gov. Jerry Brown’s spending plan for the 2017-18 fiscal year. In its May 2017 report \"The Price of Prisons,\" the Vera Institute examined the cost to house inmates at prisons nationwide. It obtained data for 45 states and found the total cost per inmate averaged $33,274. The institute advocates for reducing inmate totals and improving conditions in prisons. It reported receiving about three-quarters of its funding from the federal government. The study’s findings support Harris’ claim on the average cost of housing inmates nationally. But what about the California’s per inmate price of $75,000? For that figure, Harris’ spokesman cited a June 2017 article by the Associated Press. It estimated the cost per inmate would reach a record $75,560 in the current fiscal year. The AP based its estimate on the money Gov. Brown set aside in this year’s budget for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. To verify this figure and put it in context, we examined the governor’s 2017-18 budget and contacted the Brown Administration’s corrections and finance departments, as well as the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. These sources pointed us to the projected $76,320 cost per inmate in Brown’s 2017-18 budget. That qualifies as \"about $75,000\" as Harris put it. A spokeswoman for the state’s corrections department told us California paid about $73,000 per inmate last fiscal year, also very close to Harris’ number. Cost in context While Harris’ numbers are nearly spot on, we wanted to know what’s driving this high cost to lock up prisoners in California. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 23, 2024 in a Facebook post “Colin Kaepernick \'screams\' as Coach Kyle Shanahan denies his return request: \'The kneeling symbol has no chance of coming back.’” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 28, 2024 The expense to house each inmate has doubled since 2005, even as court orders reduced the prison population by about a quarter, according to the Associated Press. Several reasons account for the dramatic increase. Viewed simply, fewer inmates combined with higher corrections spending equals a higher per capita cost. But why are there fewer inmates and higher spending? California was forced to cut inmate levels after a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision found that overcrowding in prisons violated constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The drop in inmates hasn’t led to the closure of any prisons and hasn’t led to a reduction of prison staffing that corresponds directly to the drop in inmates. Jonathan Peterson, an analyst at the Legislative Analyst’s Office, said that’s because there are security requirements at the prisons that don’t allow for the elimination of guards simply because there are fewer inmates. \"Regardless of how many inmates are in a particular unit, you still need the one guard to open and close the doors,\" Peterson said. The governor’s budget expects a nearly 2-to-1 inmate to prison staff ratio for the current fiscal year. That’s down from a ratio of a 2.24-to-1 just two years ago. Higher employee costs Just as the inmate population started to drop, employee compensation in the prison system jumped significantly. The corrections department budget has gone up $1.2 billion since 2012 due to employee compensation and retirement costs, according to the Department of Finance. Of that increase, $436 million is directly tied to increased pension contributions by the state for prison employees. Additionally, in July 2013, the state opened the California Health Care Facility providing 2,600 beds for inmates needing medical attention. The facility has cost $288 million since it opened, the finance department reported. California voters have contributed to the shrinking prison population in recent years by approving ballot measures that reclassify many felony drug and property crimes as misdemeanors and improving chances for parole for offenders classified as nonviolent. These measures are expected to further reduce the prison population by thousands of inmates. If that happens and prison employee costs rise or stay stable, California’s per capita inmate expense will continue to be higher than other states. Our ruling Sen. Kamala Harris recently claimed \"it costs us about $33,000 a year (nationally) to lock somebody up. In California it costs about $75,000 a year.\" A recent study that examined costs in 45 states plus data from California’s departments of corrections and finance support the senator’s statement. Digging deeper, we found reducing inmates in California’s prisons, which Harris supports, may actually increase the per capita costs she highlights. That will be especially true if salary and pension costs continue to increase as inmate numbers drop. Harris doesn’t make a specific claim about what’s driving these costs. Her statement centers on the costs alone to house inmates nationally and in California. The evidence supports the figures she cited. We rate Harris\' claim True. **TRUE** – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. PolitiFact California intern Eli Flesch contributed research and writing to this fact check. Share the Facts 2017-08-10 00:40:57 UTC PolitiFact ![\\"PolitiFact\\"](\\" logo-big.jpg\\"/) 6 1 7 ![\\"PolitiFact](\\" true.png\\") PolitiFact Rating: True \"It costs us about $33,000 a year (on average nationally) to lock somebody up. In California it costs about $75,000 a year.\" Kamala Harris U.S. Senator ![](\\" Tuesday, July 18, 2017 2017-07-18 Read More info #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Tyrone Gayle, spokesman for Sen. Kamala Harris, email exchange Aug. 4, 2017 Terry Thornton, spokeswoman, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, interview Aug. 8, 2017 H.D. Palmer, spokesman, California Department of Finance, email exchange Aug. 8, 2017 Caitlin O’Neil and Jonathan Peterson, fiscal policy analysts, California Legislative Analyst’s Office, interview Aug. 8, 2017 The Law Dictionary, \"What is the average cost to house inmates in prison?\" Accessed August 3, 2017 The Associated Press, \"At $75,560, housing a prisoner in California now costs more than a year at Harvard,\" June 4, 2017 California Legislative Analyst’s Office, \"How much does it cost to incarcerate an inmate?\" March 2017 Federal Bureau of Prisons, \"Annual Determination of Average Cost of Incarceration,\" July 19, 2016 Reuters, \"U.S. spending on prisons grew at three times rate of school spending: report,\" July 7, 2016 PolitiFact Virginia, \"Sanders says it costs more to go prison than to the University of Virginia,\" November 23, 2015 The New York Times, \"Justices, 5-4, Tell California to Cut Prisoner Population,\" May 23, 2011 Ballotpedia, \"California Proposition 47, Reduced Penalties for Some Crimes Initiative (2014),\" Accessed August 3, 2017 Institute for Advancing Justice Research and Innovation, \"The Economic Burden of Incarceration in the U.S.,\" October 2016. State of California, \"2017-18 State Budget: Corrections and Rehabilitations,\" Accessed August 6, 2017 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Chris Nichols ![](\\" ![](\\" Larry Elder stated on August 31, 2021 in a CNN interview: “I don’t believe the science suggests that young people should be vaccinated. I don’t believe that young people should have to wear masks at school. I’m not sure the science is settled on that at all.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • September 11, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Larry Elder stated on August 19, 2021 in a tweet: “California voters to be able to download ballots at home for recall election, sparking security concerns.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • August 27, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on June 1, 2021 in an interview on MSNBC: \"Sadly during the course of the pandemic one-third of our small businesses have closed.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • June 7, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" John Cox stated on May 4, 2021 in a campaign press conference: California Gov. Gavin Newsom “just let 76,000 inmates out of jail.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • May 5, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kevin Kiley stated on April 26, 2021 in a tweet: “San Francisco had twice as many drug overdose deaths as COVID deaths last year.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • April 29, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Gavin Newsom stated on March 9, 2021 in a State of the State Address: “California’s [COVID-19] death rate has remained one of the lowest per capita in the nation: 134 deaths per 100,000, compared to 158 nationally, 153 in Texas and 247 in New York.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • March 10, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Doug LaMalfa stated on March 2, 2021 in a constituent email.: Voting-rights legislation proposed by Democrats in Congress called H.R. 1 “would force states to restore the voting rights of convicted felons—including violent felons convicted of murder or rape.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • March 4, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kevin Sorbo stated on February 15, 2021 in a tweet: “So California is requiring signature verification for Gavin Newsom’s recall, but didn’t require it for the mail in ballots.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Bill McCarthy • February 16, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kevin McCarthy stated on February 9, 2021 in a press release: Raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour “would destroy up to 3.7 million jobs.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • February 11, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Bloggers stated on January 28, 2021 in a blog: Facebook tried to “shut down” the campaign to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • February 2, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rusty Hicks stated on January 12, 2021 in a press conference: The effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom is \"a coup.\" ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • January 14, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Shannon Grove stated on January 6, 2021 in a tweet: \"Antifa\" is to blame for storming the U.S. Capitol. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • January 7, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on January 1, 2021 in a Facebook post: There are “absolutely no patients” at Los Angeles hospital considered the center of region\'s COVID-19 surge. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Chris Nichols • January 6, 2021 ![](\\" ![](\\" James Gallagher stated on December 3, 2020 in a tweet: “Government imposed lockdowns do NOT reduce [COVID-19] cases or stop spikes.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • December 16, 2020 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on November 11, 2020 in a tweet: Video shows California election workers \"cheating\" by collecting ballots from drop box on Nov. 4. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Chris Nichols • November 11, 2020 ### Does it cost $75K per year to lock up an inmate in California? * ![](\\" ![](\\" Kari Lake stated on September 13, 2024 in a post on X: Rep. 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Richardson • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 17, 2024 in an Instagram post: Karine Jean-Pierre, President Joe Biden’s press secretary, ended a press conference when a reporter asked about Donald Trump’s assassination attempt. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 12, 2024 in a post on Threads: An image shows Taylor Swift responding to Elon Musk\'s X post about giving her a child by saying she\'s happy to take his daughter Vivian and ‘give her all the love and respect she deserves.’ ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Andy Nguyen • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Tony Perkins stated on September 11, 2024 in a Facebook post: “In 12 states, children born alive after a failed abortion have no legal protection, and in three more states children born alive after an abortion had legal rights that governors — like Tim Walz — repealed.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sara Swann • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on September 16, 2024 in Threads post: Images show Sean Combs’ booking photos after Sept. 16 arrest. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 28, 2024 in an ad: “Kamala Harris has promised amnesty for the 10 million illegals she allowed in as border czar, making them eligible for Social Security. Studies warn this will lead to cuts in your Social Security benefits.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Ramirez Uribe • September 18, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. 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It costs us about 33000 a year on average nationally to lock somebody up In California it costs about 75000 a year