South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Lawmakers raise prison guard pay by $5,000 a year
TALLAHASSEE— Correctional officers will receive base-pay increases of at least $5,000 and newly hired officers will get one-time bonuses of $3,000 from money saved by shuttering a nearly century-old prison and more than 70 prison dorms throughout the state, under a proposal approved Thursday by lawmakers.
With low pay, the state has struggled to attract and keep workers in a prison system, which houses about 80,000 inmates. The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing workforce shortages have compounded the staffing woes. The prisons also have been plagued by budget deficits, crumbling facilities, and an aging and more costly inmate population.
The salary boosts and bonuses will come from $67.8 million in savings derived by closing New River Correctional Facility in Bradford County, closing 73 dorms at facilities scattered throughout Florida and placing “in reserve” 1,290 permanent positions at the Department of Corrections.
The plan, unanimously approved Thursday by the Joint Legislative Budget Commission, will give workers at the lowest end of the wage scale the biggest increases. It is aimed at mitigating chronic staffing shortages that Department of Corrections Secretary Mark Inch repeatedly has blamed for a prison system “in crisis.”
Under the plan, base pay for correctional officers will start at $38,750, a nearly 16% hike over the current $33,500. Base pay will go from $36,850 to $42,100 for sergeants; from $40,535 to $45,535 for lieutenants; and from $44,589 to $49,589 for captains.
Veteran correctional officers who earn more than base pay will receive annual salary increases of $1,500.
The plan also will give the corrections department the authority to hand out one-time bonuses of $3,000 for new hires, $1,500 for correctional officers and $3,000 for probation officers.
The Joint Legislative Budget Commission, made up of House and Senate members, has the authority to make mid-year budget decisions. The shift in prison funds Thursday came as lawmakers prepare for the 2022 legislative session, which will begin in January and wrap up in March.
“For the safe, proper operation of a prison, everybody will agree it has to be properly staffed. So, we have to fix this problem today,” Jim Baiardi, who leads the corrections chapter of the state Police Benevolent Association, told The News Service of Florida after Thursday’s meeting.
Baiardi had urged lawmakers not to wait until the legislative session to hike correctional officers’ salaries.
“Until we fix the staffing problem, the Department of Corrections and the prison system in Florida is on a bad path. We have a limited amount of time to correct it before something terrible happens at these facilities,” he said.
Prison officials previously turned to hiring bonuses and reductions in officers’ daily shift hours to try to lure and retain employees.
But despite the efforts, the staffing problems persist.
Statewide, corrections facilities have an average jobvacancy rate of 28%, with some prisons experiencing rates up to 50%, Department of Corrections Deputy Secretary Ricky Dixon told lawmakers in September. “Adequately and safely staffing” prisons requires a vacancy rate of around 3 percent, he said.
The corrections agency spent at least $88 million on overtime during the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Overtime costs are expected to continue to climb amid the worker crisis.
Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, has pushed to consolidate prisons as a way to free up money that could be steered towards workers’ wallets.