West Virginia grapples with rising overtime, understaffing in prisons
West Virginia's prison system is overcrowded, resulting in a $6.6 million overtime bill, the Register-Herald reports.
The high time and attendance compensation was exacerbated by a shortage of Division of Corrections employees - a problem that needs to be addressed when lawmakers open the 2012 legislative session, according to Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein.
"What happens (is) you're holding people over, they're working overtime and you just don't have the pool of officers ... that you needed," Rubenstein said, as quoted by the newspaper. "It's a vicious cycle that's occurring."
Last month, the Charleston Gazette reported on the correctional system's high turnover rate. Jail officials told the news source that nearly all of the correctional officers who quit this year cited formidable levels of overtime as a contributing factor in their decision.
According to John Lopez, chief of operations for the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority, the state requires 2,000 officers to safely maintain the 10 correctional facilities in the state. Currently, the workforce is lacking by more than 100 employees.
The high time and attendance compensation was exacerbated by a shortage of Division of Corrections employees - a problem that needs to be addressed when lawmakers open the 2012 legislative session, according to Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein.
"What happens (is) you're holding people over, they're working overtime and you just don't have the pool of officers ... that you needed," Rubenstein said, as quoted by the newspaper. "It's a vicious cycle that's occurring."
Last month, the Charleston Gazette reported on the correctional system's high turnover rate. Jail officials told the news source that nearly all of the correctional officers who quit this year cited formidable levels of overtime as a contributing factor in their decision.
According to John Lopez, chief of operations for the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority, the state requires 2,000 officers to safely maintain the 10 correctional facilities in the state. Currently, the workforce is lacking by more than 100 employees.
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