Nearly half of Tennessee prison staff jobs are vacant

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.

Parker said peer agencies in Tennessee are reporting an average starting salary of $38,400. Among them is the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, which offers $38,000, Parker said.

"And private companies have also substantially increased wages due to the nationwide difficulties in attracting workers," Parker said.

Tennessee prisons' latest vacancy rate for correctional officers is 46.8%, representing 1,141 positions. While state government operates 10 prisons, Tennessee also contracts either directly or indirectly with Nashville-based for-profit prison company CoreCivic, which operates four Tennessee prisons.

The heaviest hit in terms of actual job vacancies is the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, in Lake County, with 197 vacancies representing 59.5% of the correctional officer workforce.

Percentage-wise, the Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, a diagnostic center for women entering the corrections system, was No. 1 at 61.4%. But the actual number of vacancies was nearly two-thirds - 70 vacancies - compared to Northwest's nearly 200 vacancies.

"Governor, I'll be honest," Parker said, "the request for the salary increase, while I initially made this, I'm not sure that this will be enough. I thought this will make us competitive in the job market that we have today in the state."

Lee has shown interest in criminal justice issues, starting years ago when he mentored a young offender through a faith-based group's initiative. He asked Parker what had happened with the state's previous salary increases from two years ago.

The state raised starting salaries for correctional officers around 20%, from $27,000 to $32,500, Parker said. It helped the department increase staff by 9% but proved short-lived. From March 2020 to March 2021, vacancies increased to 19%. In response to the "hiring difficulties," the state implemented a $5,000 hiring bonus and $1,000 retention bonus to boost recruiting, Parker said.

"However, the impact to our hiring has been marginal," he said.

"The signing bonus made no impact?" Lee asked.

"Very little," Parker said. "I thought that would help us significantly. To be honest with you governor, we've seen marginal, marginal response to that. I was very surprised."

The soon-to-be ex-commissioner - he's since taken a job that begins in January with the Knoxville-based nonprofit 4th Purpose Foundation - noted the state Department of Correction is competing with the likes of the Memphis Police Department, which is offering a $15,000 signing bonus, as well as the state of Virginia, which is offering the same amount for correctional officers.

Brandon Gibson, Lee's chief operating officer, asked Parker if the state wouldn't encounter the same issue if the $15.8 million request is granted. While it would bump up Tennessee's pay to Virginia's correctional pay, "do we know that we would be able to address the problem?"

(READ MORE: State outpatient program that gives felons intensive counseling, training instead of jail time may expand to Hamilton County)

Parker said when he first made the request he thought it was "adequate to improve the situation we were in at that time. At this point, I don't know that it will resolve the issue totally. I don't know that. I think we have to be competitive in the job market."

Finance Commissioner Butch Eley said looking at other states may not be the answer, noting "you've got to be competitive for the market you're in."

Parker noted that in Northwest Tennessee, the state's Lake County facility is about to compete for workers with a new solar farm about to open and Ford Motor Co. announcing a $5.6 billion electric F-Series truck production and battery plant in Haywood County in West Tennessee. It is expected to employ some 5,800 people.

"Corrections is an important, vital role to the state of Tennessee," Parker said. "It serves a significant purpose for the public safety. We must become competitive. And the money's not everything, right? I understand that. There's other leadership opportunity and things we need to engage in. But if we're not competitive in this job market today, we cannot hire people."

Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican and chairman of the legislature's watchdog Fiscal Review Committee, said Monday in a telephone interview that lawmakers have "constantly heard" over the past few years about shortages of employees in state prisons, especially among lower-paid workers, with some working overtime and some even without additional pay. "It's really been aggravated during this period of time when inflation has spiked in wages and salary."

The proposed increases would take the correctional workers to about $20 an hour, Gardenhire estimated. While state taxes are up and Tennessee is seeing huge surpluses, that may not last, he said. Still, the senator noted, "the people we have working in the state of Tennessee in those frontline jobs, we're not paying them enough to attract and keep quality employees."

Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, a former state Board of Parole member, said the correctional officer shortage is a national issue and he believes one of the "real reasons" is the level of pay.

"What was proposed by outgoing commissioner Parker, I think, is aligned with reality," Hakeem said, later adding, "at this time I would be inclined to encourage the governor to move forward on those recommendations. In our economic climate, it makes all the sense in the world."

Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.