The government will spend $3 million on designs for an expanded ACT jail, while setting aside a further $6 million to help the prison with increased ''service demand'' and the training of new guards.
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The Alexander Maconochie Centre, which was opened in 2009, currently houses a daily average of 265 inmates, below its capacity of 300.
Expansion plans for the jail have been discussed since early last year.
But the ACT budget, which was handed down on Tuesday, includes $3 million for final sketch plans for new, flexible, medium-term accommodation at the jail.
The new accommodation is expected to initially house an extra 30 detainees.
But the government will also spend a further $6.06 million over four years ''to meet recent increases in service demand and trainee expenses''. That funding includes covering the salaries of trainee correctional officers as they go through an 11-week training program.
A further $4.1 million was provided for community mental health services for inmates leaving the AMC.
The budget papers also showed a reduction in the jail's relatively high costs per detainee, with the average cost per inmate per day recorded at $397 - well below the target of $410 per day.
More than $7million was provided to help monitor offenders on parole and other court orders.
The government also announced a review into the efficiency of Corrective Services.
Also in the ACT's budget, police were given funding for eight new officers and four new vehicles equipped with the RAPID licence plate recognition technology.
Those RAPID cars will, in part, help the government bring in an expected 28 per cent more revenue from traffic fines. The budget also showed the inquiry into the conviction of David Harold Eastman for the murder of Australian Federal Police Commissioner Colin Winchester is expected to cost the government about $3.4 million next financial year.
That includes $2.8 million for the work of the board of inquiry, the Director of Public Prosecutions, courts, Corrective Services and the Australian Federal Police, plus $516,000 in funding for Legal Aid over the next financial year.
That is far higher than the $2.5 million cost estimated for the 2012-13 financial year.
Continuing delays in the ACT Supreme Court were again reflected in the budget papers.
Ten per cent of criminal cases and 24 per cent of civil cases in the Supreme Court were pending for more than 24 months in 2012-13, meaning the government failed to meet its target of zero per cent.
The appropriate level of judicial resources was also lower than the government's target. There were 3.5 judicial officers per 100,000 Canberrans in 2012-13 - just under the 3.6 target. The government has lowered its target to 3.4 judicial officers per 100,000 people for the 2013-14 year. Other announcements included $18 million for a new fire station in South Tuggeranong, six new firefighters to man the specialist platform on demand capabilities, and $1.1 million over four years to establish a new hub for the ACT's community legal centres. Funding was also provided for the new alcohol interlock program, the Throughcare model for rehabilitating offenders, a flexibility scheme for the payment of fines, and discounted driver's licence renewal fees for safer drivers.
