The Nevada Department of Corrections’ (NDOC) high overtime pay will persist, and there may not be enough funds to cover the costs, agency Director James Dzurenda said at a state meeting this week.

The comments at Tuesday’s meeting of the state Board of Examiners — a panel consisting of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state — suggest there are few short-term fixes to the agency’s overtime costs, which resulted in a $53 million budget deficit for the agency during the most recent fiscal year. A state audit released in July found the agency’s overtime payouts cost the state $18 million annually, which it attributed, in part, to inconsistent overtime policies.

Tuesday’s discussion came alongside the release of more data about the agency’s overtime pay.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, which concluded in June, the agency spent more than $10.8 million on overtime, more than double any other state agency. These payments made up nearly one-fifth of the agency’s total pay during the quarter. However, it marked a reduction of more than $2 million from the previous quarter, indicating the agency is making strides in addressing the issue. 

Still, Dzurenda said at Tuesday’s meeting the agency is not in the clear.

“Our overtime concern will continue. There is potential for not enough funds to be able to cover the overtime costs,” he said in response to a question from Gov. Joe Lombardo. “The overtime costs that are … not being able to be personally controlled are related to a variety of factors.”

Nevada’s prison system has long struggled with overtime costs. In 2018, Gov. Brian Sandoval said the state was facing a “fiscal emergency” because of the costs, and state auditors found this year that employees earned overtime when they were on paid and unpaid leave.

One reason for the high costs is an increase in off-site medical visits and hospital stays for prisoners, which requires more staff, Dzurenda said. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, nearly $1.5 million was spent on overtime for medical supervision, the third-largest category.

In 2023, the agency averaged 43 officers a day using overtime to cover these trips, but that has increased to 74 this year, Dzurenda said.

Dzurenda added there had been an increase in overdoses from synthetic drugs, and that the agency is eyeing new technology — including artificial intelligence — to better detect drugs that are laced in paper and ink. He did not provide specifics about the overdose increases, or on the agency’s progress in procuring this technology.

He reiterated that the agency is aiming to limit overtime costs by “reducing functions inside the facility without jeopardizing any constitutional rights,” such as limiting time for inmates to be out of their cells or decreasing visitations.

The Legislature this year also approved 90 additional positions to help reduce some of the overtime needed at a cost of more than $25 million during the ongoing two-year budget cycle. However, Dzurenda noted that overtime costs will stay high for at least six months because of training.

Additionally, agency officials have previously said that a more permanent fix will likely not come until the results of a recent staffing study are released. The study concluded in June, but the findings have not been made public yet.

“We’re doing everything we can to look at our overtime costs and try to reduce it,” Dzurenda said on Tuesday.