Republican Gov. Bill HaslamNASHVILLE - State Correction Department officials are asking Gov. Bill Haslam for $8.3 million in new funding to give a 5 percent raise to prison guards and probation officers in hopes of slowing widespread departures.
Commissioner Derrick Schofield told Haslam at a budget hearing Thursday "if we were funded for this, this would push us up to about No. 3 with the surrounding states."
The department has been hemorrhaging correctional officers across the state, especially at the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning, Tenn., and Bledsoe County Regional Correctional Complex in Pikeville.
Guards have complained about low pay and plummeting morale stemming from changes in work schedules and the reclassification of certain inmate-on-guard assaults. Correctional officers complain the change made their work more dangerous.
Schofield has denied major problems, attributing many job losses to a rebounding private sector. But after an independent audit questioned the assault classifications, Schofield told the governor he is moving to implement changes. The auditors also said state prisons are, by and large, operated safely.
Schofield later told reporters a proposed new definition for what constitutes assaults has been written and will go out for review. He wouldn't give details, but the American Correctional Association recommended the definition be broadened to include physical attacks that don't require hospitalization and throwing bodily fluids on guards.
Schofield spokeswoman Neysa Taylor said in early August the department had 302 correctional officer vacancies. The commissioner said 300 correctional officers have been hired, but Taylor said there are still 260 vacancies. Vacancies at the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex have been reduced by 26 percent, she said.
Randy Stamps, with the Tennessee State Employees Association, which has been critical of Schofield's policies, said he was "astounded that he believes that turnover is going very well, 'good' - I think was the word that he used. We still have a huge turnover problem."
Schofield also is asking for $26.1 million more in recurring funding and $39.2 million in one-time funds, including $20 million to build a new headquarters and a new service and training academy.
He outlined 3.5 percent in cuts or other savings to recurring spending totaling $5.12 million.
Each year, Haslam asks heads of the 26 departments or agencies in budget talks to come up with prospective cuts. Some he adopts, and some he does not.
Schofield offered up 46 vacant positions from the Turney Center Industrial Complex and West Tennessee State Penitentiary, which he said could save up to $622,600. He said the positions were slated for minimum security annexes that never materialized.
Starting in January, the department will begin laying out about $40 million a year for a contract to house state prisoners at a 2,552-bed prison in Trousdale County. The county-owned facility will be operated by Nashville-based Corrections Corp. of America.
Departmental officials said that will relieve overcrowding in county jails that house state prisoners. Efforts to get clarification on the impact to counties were unsuccessful on Thursday.
The budget hearings began Monday and end today. Haslam will use the recommendations as he builds his expected $34 billion-plus budget recommendations for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreep press.com, 615-255-0550 or follow via twitter @AndySher1.