Expenditures by the state on public safety and criminal justice account for 6.2 percent of total state spending. The graph above shows the continuing trend of rising expenditures for this area of the budget. After a 9 percent ($0.68 million) increase between the 98-99 biennium and the 2000-01 biennium, expenditures remained steady until the 06-07 biennium. During the 06-07 biennium, expenditures jumped by 21.05%, or $1.7 million. From the 1998-99 to 2008-09 biennial periods, expenditures will increase by a total of 42.3%, or $3.1 million.

The largest current expenditure area in Article V is the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). 2008-09 appropriations for TDCJ equal about $5,887.5 million, or about 56.4% of the total; while the next largest appropriated amount goes to the Department of Public Safety (DPS). For this period, DPS has been appropriated about $1,642.5 million, or about 15.74% from Article V funds. This is actually a decrease of nearly $0.39 million (19%) from earlier 06-07 budget estimates. Together TDCJ and DPS make up 72.14% of total appropriations, or about $7,530 million. Other programs which are part of public safety and criminal justice include the Texas Alcohol and Tobacco Commission and the Youth Commission.

Appropriations for public Safety and Criminal Justice primarily come from the General Revenue fund, as demonstrated in the graph above. Roughly $7,910.8 million, about 75.8%, of all funding comes from general revenue funds.