NASHVILLE – Tennessee officials are eyeing a new round of pay increases to attract and retain correctional officers at 10 state-run prisons where nearly half the positions are now vacant.
During state budget hearings this month, Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Tony Parker formally submitted a budget request to Gov. Bill Lee seeking an additional $15.86 million for salaries for existing correctional officers and, officials hope, new ones.
It includes boosting annual starting pay for new correctional officers from $32,524 to $37,654. If officers stay, their pay would rise to $39,541 in the second year.
It comes as Tennessee, other states and local jails have come under pressure to raise pay to stem a tide of resigning correctional officers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparable or similar jobs with other public agencies at the local, state or federal levels often pay more. And the private sector, which is also having difficulties keeping or hiring workers, is willing to pay for new ones for jobs that are better paying and often less challenging or dangerous.
“Over the last 18-24 months, we have experienced considerable difficulty hiring and retaining correctional officer employees in our prisons,” Parker told the governor during the agency’s Nov. 4 budget hearing.