The Arizona Department of Corrections wants a few — check that, more than a few— good men and women.

Forty registered nurses and 850 correctional officers are needed to fill vacancies at the state's 10 prisons. So dire is the situation at eight prisons that the department gives incentives of up to 15 percent of an employee's annual salary.

"Our primary goal and responsibility is to have institutions staffed at the proper level," said Deputy Director Richard Carlson.

But the agency hasn't been anywhere close to full staff for several years.

State officials and union leaders blame below-market wages. They say Arizona's budget woes make it unlikely the situation will change soon.

The Legislature, attempting to dig out from under the state's deficit, took away a plan to increase correctional workers' pay this year.

Without raises, corrections officials said, the agency's revolving door keeps spinning. About a quarter of the department's 10,600 workers leave every year, Carlson said. Low pay was the top reason.

About 100 correctional officers, who earn $24,954 a year to start, resign every month, Carlson said. Many leave for equivalent jobs that pay thousands more each year.

The state invests $10,782 in recruiting and training each cadet, who attends a seven-week academy, only to lose many of them before the ink has dried on their diplomas, union officials say.

"Other states have come recruiting right from the academy's parking lot," said Ray Valenzuela, executive director of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council 97.

As for nurses, there's a high demand for their skills, which makes it hard to recruit them to work in prisons, Carlson said. Starting pay for registered correctional nurses ranges from $28,492 to $35,058 a year.

Valenzuela called the Legislature penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to correctional employees' pay.

"People don't want to be forced to work double shifts," he said, citing an example of an officer at Perryville who dialed 911 to report he was being held at work against his will. "They want a life and you can't blame them."

Gov. Janet Napolitano supports reinstating bonuses of up to $5,160 for new hires who stay one year at prisons with the highest employee vacancy rates. It's not certain the Legislature will pass the plan.

Carlson said the problem in hiring and retaining workers doesn't affect the public.

"The impact is on the employees and the inmates," he said.

Recruitment efforts at employment fairs and on the department's Website:

 http:// www.az.doc.state.us.gov

 have netted some new hires. Also, dropping retirement eligibility to 20 years of service has helped retain some veterans.

Still, Carlson says, "Given a chance to work (for us) or some other law enforcement agency, we're just not competitive," he said.

The Arizona Republic – Monday, February, 24, 2003

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