Special session on West Virginia correctional officer, support staff pay possible

“In all fairness, we have a real problem with correctional officers. We need locality pay. We blew it up,” Justice said Monday on “WV MetroNews Talkline.” “But from my standpoint, the only thing I can hope to do is wait a couple of months, maybe develop another plan, maybe try to make another run at it in a special session. But I have no idea why we keep blowing this stuff up.”

Justice was a supporter last year and this year of passing a locality pay bill to help recruit and retain correctional officers based on parts of the state seeing the highest vacancies in correctional officers, even mentioning the issue during his State of the State address this year.

A bill sponsored by state Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, to authorize locality pay for correctional officers was never taken up during the Legislature’s just-ended regular session.

Elaine Harris, international representative for the Communications Workers of America, the union representing correctional officers and support staff, spoke with Justice on Monday. She was on hand as Justice signed legislation that stiffened penalties for interfering with law enforcement officers resulting in death and legislation that dealt with the Deputy Sheriff’s Retirement System.

Speaking Tuesday, Harris said locality pay might need to be a step taken down the road, but it can’t be taken without addressing the overall pay of correctional officers and support staff.

“I think locality pay would be fine if we had every facility fully staffed,” Harris said. “Until then, we’ve got to look at something that would bring everybody up at all the facilities.”

Justice had a bill introduced on his behalf during the recent legislative session to grant a cost-of-living stipend of up to $10,000 per year for correctional officers, paid at the discretion of the commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. That bill never made it past the finance committees in the House of Delegates and state Senate.

House Bill 2879 would have provided correctional officers a $10,000 salary adjustment. It also would have provided a $6,000 bonus to correctional officers with three years of service, beginning July 1. New jail and corrections employees hired on or after July 1 would have received a $3,000 sign-on bonus, as well as a $3,000 bonus once they accumulate three years of service.

“We have got to have the flexibility to do some level of stipend or whatever to be able to handle this, unless we want to just have our National Guard in our prisons forever more. “But that’s not much of a fix and very expensive on top of that,” Justice told “Talkline” host Hoppy Kercheval Monday.

Justice has declared a state of emergency twice over the past six years for the state’s prisons and regional jails over severe staffing shortages, including in August 2022. The West Virginia National Guard was ordered to assist with staffing needs until this August, though it could be extended if staffing shortages continue.

According to figures from the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, there are 1,042 vacancies as of last week in the state’s correctional system which consists of 11 prisons, 10 regional jails, 10 juvenile centers and three work-release sites. The vacancy rate is 27% overall, but when looking only at correctional officers, the overall vacancy rate is 33%.

Individual facilities have much higher vacancy rates. Potomac Highlands Regional Jail has a 76% officer vacancy rate. The Vicki Douglas Juvenile Center in Martinsburg has a 60% officer vacancy rate.

The Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation has spent more than $22 million in the prior fiscal year ending in June 2022 on overtime for correctional officers. The price tag for using the National Guard through the end of the current fiscal year in June is approaching $20 million.

According to the Division of Corrections, the base salary for a correctional officer class 1 is $33,214 as of July, with a 7% pay increase to $35,360 for correctional officers after their first year on the job and a promotion to correctional officer class 2. After the second year, salaries will increase another 7% to $37,656 and a promotion to correctional officer class 3. DCR also offers a $1,000 appointment incentive to entice new recruits.

Speaking Tuesday, Harris said she was hopeful for a special session for correctional officer pay. She supports HB 2879 but would like to see the raise and bonuses also include support staff that interact directly with inmates. She argued that factoring in the costs to the state for paying the National Guard and paying out overtime, the state can afford to pay both correctional officers and support staff with direct contact with inmates more money.

“What we would like to see is a $10,000 pay increase for the officers and the staff that work in contact with inmates and residents in the juvenile facilities,” Harris said. “With that, that brings everybody up and acknowledges the folks who are getting the job done.

“I would like for the stakeholders to sit down with the governor taking the lead and sitting down with the legislators and put together a good plan in a few months in a special session and let’s get this done,” Harris continued. “I think that would be a win-win for all the parties involved.”