Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has carved construction funds for a controversial and expensive Baltimore jail out of his proposed capital budget for the next fiscal year, raising new questions about the fate of the project.

Moore’s capital budget proposal released Wednesday zeroes out funding for the construction of a new jail known as the Baltimore Therapeutic Treatment Center. The move would push any investment in the proposed facility to the next fiscal year “due to a delay in the project schedule and to allow time for thorough review of the design before beginning construction of this $1.2 billion project.”

The proposed detention facility, which is set to be located in the city’s downtown jail complex, had been slated to receive $125 million.

The Baltimore Banner reported earlier this month that the project faced an uncertain future. The planned construction has already been socked by a projected $200 million cost increase and has drawn criticism from both the correctional officers union and a coalition of criminal justice reform advocates who have questioned the project’s purpose — and whether it would be worth the heftier price.

The state is facing a budget shortfall of more than $1 billion, and the governor has proposed shifting money away from construction projects to cover the gap.

A spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said the absence of the jail in the budget reflected a “one-year pause” to provide state agencies “appropriate time to further evaluate the size and scope of the project.”

Plans for a new jail were further complicated last month, when the state corrections department evacuated the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center due to safety concerns with the building. That decision eliminated hundreds of beds from the city jail system, placing new pressure on state officials to ensure that any new facility would be able to accommodate more detainees.

That mattered, because the proposed treatment center, which was designed for people who have substance use issues and are facing criminal charges, had already been scaled down due to financial concerns.

Bed space was reduced by nearly half, to 854 from 1,462 beds, even as cost estimates for the facility’s construction shot up. State officials blamed the price hikes on rising inflation, increased material costs and more expensive labor.

Corrections department officials have said that building the Baltimore Therapeutic Treatment Center is needed to comply with the terms of a settlement stemming from a long-standing federal lawsuit over medical and mental health care in city jail facilities. But that position appears to be in conflict with the state’s lawyers, who have argued in court that the department is already in compliance with that settlement.

A coalition of criminal justice reform advocates and the union representing correctional officers have latched on to that contradiction, among other reasons, to say that the project is deeply flawed and should be reconsidered, with more input from community groups.

The corrections department has spent nearly $54 million on the planning phase of the new jail through the fiscal year 2025, according to a legislative analysis.

Baltimore Banner reporter Pamela Wood contributed to this report.