Thirty-six states are holding gubernatorial elections this fall, and the results could have lasting effects for nearly 70 percent of the country’s prison population. In some of these states, the Department of Justice has intervened to investigate or address harmful conditions in prison facilities, including inadequate mental healthcare in Massachusetts, understaffing and violence in Tennessee and Georgia, sexual abuse in California, and constitutional violations in Alabama — a case which is set to go to trial this November. These problems, as well as infrastructural deficiencies, overcrowding, and limited educational and reentry programming, plague state prison systems nationwide.
Governors have powers to address these issues in their states on their own. Their correctional appointment decisions, budgetary influence, and clemency powers can drive needed changes, often without legislation. And given that in half of the upcoming elections the incumbent isn’t running, the results could create room for correctional approaches focused on helping incarcerated people succeed after release — something that more than 90 percent of voters want. Past examples illustrate some of the tools that incoming governors can use to advance reform when they take office.
Choosing Prison System Leaders
In all 50 states, governors appoint Department of Corrections leadership, who determine a state’s correctional approach and culture inside facilities. Many of the most notable improvements across the country have been spearheaded by correctional directors who believe that prisons should treat people with dignity and prepare them to return to their communities. With gubernatorial support, they have prioritized reintegration and rehabilitation.
As just one example, the Massachusetts corrections department, led by Shawn Jenkins, has provided technologically focused vocational training and expanded access to IDs, boosting access to jobs, housing, healthcare, and financial services upon release. The state even recently launched a pilot remote work program through which incarcerated people can earn $25 an hour — a policy that stands apart from most prison work programs that provide low pay and scant interaction with the outside world.
Other directors have focused on correctional culture, drawing on Northern European practices that center human dignity and mutual respect between staff and incarcerated people.
Scott Semple, former head of the Connecticut corrections department, traveled to Germany in 2016 with former Gov. Dannel Malloy. Upon return, and in partnership with the Vera Institute of Justice, Semple helped implement the T.R.U.E. (Truthfulness, Respectfulness, Understanding, and Elevating) unit at a high-security prison. The program prioritizes peer mentorship, family connection, and reintegration while recognizing the specific developmental needs of young adults.
While in office, Malloy supported this work and pushed a series of other criminal justice reforms in the state. While his decision to not seek reelection in 2018 cast temporary uncertainty on the program’s future, the unit is still operating, demonstrating how champions can drive reforms that outlast them. Restoring Promise, the parent initiative for T.R.U.E., has since seen success across similar units nationwide, including lowered rates of violence and recidivism.
Shaping Budgetary Priorities
While department of corrections appointments directly shape prison environments and correctional culture, gubernatorial executive budgets can be influential by signaling an administration’s broader policy priorities for the coming year. All governors submit budgets to their legislatures to serve as a starting point for negotiations. In one notable example, California Gov. Gavin Newsom included in his 2023–24 executive budget funding for the construction of a learning center at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. The facility now includes resources that facilitate educational and rehabilitative opportunities for incarcerated people, such as a café, recording studios, and indoor and outdoor classrooms.
Conversely, omitting items from a budget can hinder progress. In her 2027 executive budget, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul cut all funding for the Correctional Association of New York, an independent oversight authority. The previous year, the organization received funding to increase needed oversight measures. It launched the Intensive Monitoring Initiative, which included frequent visits to troubled facilities and the identification of systemic policy failures. While advocates did eventually win back funding in the 2027 budget, the funding uncertainty caused the organization to pause the initiative, casting doubt on future work, staffing, and institutional commitment to sustained oversight.
While all governors face different state legislatures that may advance or challenge their initial budgets, those taking office shouldn’t discount the influence of their proposals.
Clemency
Governors can improve prison conditions by reducing the number of incarcerated people inside them. Many prisons are overcrowded, which — when combined with understaffing — makes them more dangerous for staff and incarcerated people and limits correctional departments’ ability to provide programming, basic healthcare, nutritious food, or recovery resources. But governors have used clemency powers more frequently in recent years to address high prison populations driven by harsh sentencing policies. Pardons, which nullify criminal convictions, and commutations, which can shorten custodial sentences, are two forms of clemency.
In his first year, facing the highest incarceration rate in the country, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt issued nearly 800 sentence commutations, releasing people who had committed nonviolent and low-level offenses. He granted additional releases during the pandemic, as did governors in several other states.
