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Shortage

Salary for corrections workers needs adjusted

Attracting and retaining officers to staff West Virginia’s jails, prisons and juvenile corrections facilities has been a challenge for years. Everyone acquainted with the challenge knows the problem: money.

With starting salaries at $26,000, the state corrections system pays substantially less than some nearby states and the federal government. And, of course, many private-sector jobs have better paychecks — without the stress and risk of facing potentially dangerous criminals every day at work.

State legislators were told this week that without offering higher pay, corrections facilities may become dangerously understaffed both in numbers and experience. “I think we’re setting ourselves up,” lawmakers were told by Joseph Tyree, who is the new director of recruiting for the corrections system.

“It’s pay us now or pay us later if something goes wrong in any of our facilities,” Tyree added.

A growing pressure is ensuring the state has enough experienced corrections officers, Tyree noted. Many of those who have been on the job for years are nearing retirement age.

Tyree recommends a substantial boost in starting salaries, to between $30,000 and $32,000 a year. He also wants bonuses for experienced officers.

About 4,200 men and women work in the juvenile and adult corrections systems. The math of complying with Tyree’s suggestion is daunting — between $16 million and $25 million a year in new funding.

With next year’s budget unlikely to be much, if any, easier to deal with than the current year’s spending plan, legislators may be pardoned for wondering just how they can give corrections officers a raise.

But Tyree is right — perhaps even restrained. Jails, prisons and juvenile detention facilities have to be staffed. Not ensuring the state has an adequate pool of officers to do that could be exceedingly costly.

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