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The Court of Auditors of Santa Catarina revoked the precautionary measure that suspended the bidding process for the construction of four new prisons in the state, with an estimated value of R$ 370.13 million. The decision was published in the State Official Gazette on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, after corrections made by the Infrastructure Department.
Almost a year after having the process stalled due to irregularities, the government of Santa Catarina once again has a clear path to hire the company that will build four new penitentiaries in the state. The TCE/SC, Court of Auditors of the State of Santa Catarina, revoked the precautionary measure that suspended the bidding, in a decision published in the State Official Gazette on Wednesday, June 10, 2026. The reversal was possible after the SIE — State Department of Infrastructure and Mobility, complied with the requests of the supervisory body and readjusted the selectivity criteria and technical requirements of the notice, as published by the ND Mais portal on June 11, 2026.
The total estimated value for the project and execution of the four prisons is R$ 370,129,284.51. The planned units are distributed among three cities in the interior of Santa Catarina, Chapecó, in the West, Lages, in the Serra, and Xanxerê, also in the West, regions that concentrate significant demands of the state’s penitentiary system. The TCE/SC counselor Wilson Rogério Wan-Dall, who had also signed the suspension report, was responsible for revoking the precautionary measure, and highlighted that the measure no longer had justifications in light of the corrections adopted by the government.
Why the notice had been suspended and what needed to change
The suspension of the bidding process had occurred back in 2025, when the TCE/SC identified inconsistencies in the notice that, according to the body, could become irregularities in the future and potentially favor the eventual contractor. The measure was classified as preventive, a way to block a process with problems before they materialized into damage to the treasury or subsequent legal challenges.
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At the end of June 2025, the TCE/SC had requested information from the SIE about the bidding process, identifying at least four indications that required adjustments and corrections. The department was notified and informed, at the time, that the technical area was evaluating the situation, and that it would have until the beginning of August 2025 to respond. The formal suspension only occurred after the document corrected by the department was analyzed by the court and still considered insufficient. Now, with the criteria readjusted and the technical requirements corrected, the path for the bidding process has been reopened.
Which prisons will be built and how the bidding is divided
The bidding process provides for hiring a single specialized company to develop the projects and execute the works of the four units, organized in separate lots. Lot 1 corresponds to the Chapecó 2 Industrial Penitentiary Complex; Lot 2, to the Lages Industrial Penitentiary, Unit 1; Lot 3, to the Lages Industrial Penitentiary, Unit 2; and Lot 4, to the Xanxerê Industrial Penitentiary. Lages will therefore have two new units, concentrating a significant part of the investment in the mountainous region.
The model adopted for selecting the winning company is not based exclusively on the lowest price. The state government opted for the technique and price methodology, in which the winning company is the one that achieves the best combined score among the presented criteria. According to the logic of the model, this mixed criterion aims to ensure efficiency in construction, prioritizing the technical quality of the proposal along with the financial value, instead of rewarding only those who charge less.
The counselor’s assessment and the context of the penitentiary system
Upon signing the revocation of the precautionary measure, counselor Wilson Rogério Wan-Dall of the TCE/SC went beyond the technical description of the process. In his text, he emphasized the relevance of the works in view of the current scenario of Santa Catarina’s prisons. “Given that the object deals with hiring a company to develop projects and execute the works of four penitentiaries, therefore, of extreme relevance given the precarious situation of the Santa Catarina penitentiary system”, wrote the counselor, as published by ND Mais.
The reference to the “precarious situation of the Santa Catarina penitentiary system” made by the TCE/SC counselor himself indicates that the delay caused by the suspension of the tender was not neutral; it occurred in a context of recognized demand for new vacancies and adequate structures. The construction of the four prisons represents an attempt at a structural response to this problem, although the effective contracting, the start of the works, and the completion deadlines still depend on the next steps of the bidding process, which the ND Mais report did not detail.
What comes next and what is still undefined
With the precautionary measure revoked, the bidding process can move forward. The next step is the formal opening of the competition for interested companies to submit their technical and financial proposals. The winning company will be responsible for both the projects and the execution of the works in the four units, a highly complex contract that involves planning, specialized engineering, and a delivery schedule.
There is no, in the information published by ND Mais, data on the expected deadline for the opening of the competition, the estimated time for the completion of the bidding process, or the projected dates for the start and end of the works. These elements depend on the publication of the final tender and the sequence of the administrative process. What the revocation of the precautionary measure guarantees, for now, is that the blockage has been removed, and that the path to contract and build the four prisons is open again after almost a year of paralysis.
Does the construction of prisons solve or just postpone the problems of the penitentiary system? Do you think that the investment of R$ 370 million in new units is the right path for Santa Catarina, or are there other priorities before this? Leave your opinion in the comments, this is a discussion that goes beyond the bars.
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