CHARLESTON — So far in 2023, the West Virginia Legislature is 0-4 in attempts to give the state’s corrections personnel a pay increase.
Despite lawmakers acknowledging a pressing need to address the issue, four bills aimed at increasing pay for corrections staff failed to advance beyond committee discussions during the 2023 legislative session.
“For the life of me, I don’t know why the Republican supermajority failed to act during the regular session and continue to bury their heads in the sand today,” said Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, a member of the House Jails and Prisons Committee.
The West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation faces a critical situation with 1,040 vacancies, more than 700 of which are corrections officers, according to Chief of Staff Brad Douglas. The severity of the understaffing issue is highlighted by the state’s $17 million expenditure to activate the West Virginia Army National Guard, a measure taken under a state of emergency declared last August by Gov. Jim Justice.
During his State of the State address in January, Justice asked lawmakers to increase pay for correctional officers in areas where neighboring states offer higher wages.
“We’re going to awaken to something not very good there, if we don’t watch out,” Justice said at the time.
Two of the four bills introduced during the legislative session, Senate Bill 425 and House Bill 2895, were versions of the locality pay increase that Justice requested. Both proposed a $10,000 stipend for correctional officers residing in areas where competitive wages exist across state lines.
The Senate also introduced a similar bill, SB 464, which also included the $10,000 locality increase.
Another bill, HB 2879, initially proposed a $6,000 pay raise, spread over three years, for employees of the Division of Corrections, Division of Juvenile Services, and the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority, regardless of their work location.
It also included a $3,000 sign-on bonus for new employees, with an extra $3,000 after three years of service.
The bill was amended by the House Jails and Prisons Committee to include an additional $10,000 pay increase for correctional officers spread over three years.
None of the bills made it beyond their respective finance committees.
Justice has expressed frustration during administration briefings over a lack of progress but has refused to call a special legislative session until lawmakers can find a compromise to address the issue.
“If the bills that I sent up there were inadequate, then why don’t we amend the bills that I’m sending up there and come up with something that is adequate?” Justice said during an administration briefing last week. “I’ll sign it in a second. That’s all there is to it. I am not giving anybody a hard time, but this is ridiculous. We’ve got to fix this.”
Corrections Commissioner William Marshall outlined the scope of the problem in interim committee meetings last week, saying eight facilities in the state have vacancy rates of 40% or more.
The Potomac Highlands Regional Jail leads with a 76% vacancy rate, followed by the Northern Regional Jail at 56%. The Vicki Douglas Juvenile Center, Huttonsville Correctional Center, and the Eastern Regional Jail all report vacancy rates of 54%. The J.M. “Chick” Buckbee Juvenile Center, Western Regional Jail, and the Mt. Olive Correctional Center face rates of 50%, 47% and 40%, respectively.
Marshall told lawmakers the staffing shortage has caused concern for the safety of both inmates and staff in the state’s jails and prisons. The state is facing a number of lawsuits over poor conditions within the system, and the families of multiple inmates who have died while in state custody are proceeding with litigation.
According to a 2019 article by the National Institute of Justice, staffing shortages also place a strain on the delivery of essential services and programs, including medical care and mental health services. High vacancy rates also create an additional burden on existing staff, leading to increased workloads and causing overworked employees to suffer from exhaustion, stress, and burnout.
Inadequate staffing compromises safety and security, making effective supervision and management of the prison population challenging, according to an article by the nonprofit criminal justice publication The Marshall Project.
The shortage increases the risk of escalating incidents, such as fights and assaults, which endanger both inmates and staff members.
This further compromises the quality of supervision and care provided in correctional facilities, according to the report. The high turnover resulting from these conditions, coupled with younger employees who are more willing to change jobs, perpetuates the staffing shortage and creates a challenging cycle that affects the entire system.
These staffing concerns are made more urgent by an increase in inmate populations, which had dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic but are once again on an incline in many jurisdictions, according to The Marshall Project report.
While proposals addressing locality pay might provide some relief in border areas, they fail to address the shortages in other facilities, Marshall said. He emphasized the need to incentivize corrections personnel across the board.
“What concerns me is the other facilities we have, where people are working hard every day and they don’t get that incentive. So what’s their reason to stay?” Marshall said.
House Jails and Prisons Committee Minority Chairman Joey Garcia, D-Marion, said progress is being made on the issue, albeit at a slow pace. Garcia emphasized the need for a higher base pay for corrections personnel and other measures that would make corrections jobs more attractive, including bolstering retirement benefits and pensions.
“You can’t tell me that you, or somebody you know, would want to work a corrections job with a starting salary of $33,000, when there are jobs right now in convenience stores and fast food restaurants where you won’t have to deal with a number of the pretty harsh working conditions,” he said. “Anybody who does not agree that $33,000 is not a sufficient base pay, I don’t understand. I think they’re putting their head in the sand.”
Garcia acknowledges that increasing pay is not the sole solution to the more systemic problems in the state’s correctional facilities, but he believes it is an integral part of addressing some of the pressing issues. However, he stressed the importance of evaluating the cost of any potential pay raise, while finding compromises that ensure dignity and career progression for corrections personnel.
“This last week, members of the Senate were involved in trying to discuss and ensure that the numbers we have are accurate. What do certain solutions cost?” Garcia said. “I honestly think that is a fair request, that we know what we have to expect from a budget standpoint. There has been good analysis and work done by some staff members about what it’s going to cost.”
