Published: June 27, 2009 03:34 pm      

Texas’ prison guard shortage eases

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas prison officials plan to cancel contracts to house up to 1,900 state convicts in county lockups because the number of convicts in state prisons has fallen.

Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, told the Austin American-Statesman that officials plan to move the convicts now housed in county lockups back into state prisons by the end of August. Lawmakers, who directed the move, anticipated the population decline and did not appropriate $28 million to continue leasing the contract beds.

The decrease in the Texas inmate population — part of a national downtrend — also coincides with an increase in correctional officers at the state’s 112 adult prisons where the vacancy rate of prison guards has dropped to about 5 percent. It’s the lowest numbers in more than a decade for the state which has long had a shortage of prison guards.

Texas has just 1,262 correctional officer jobs now open, compared with more than 3,700 openings just over a year ago. Officials say more people have become guards because of pay incentives and the struggling economy.

“It’s the economy. No doubt about it,” said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. He chairs the Criminal Justice Legislative Oversight Committee that oversees prison operations.

“When there’s not many choices for employment, and the oil patch slows down, these prison jobs start looking real good,” Whitmire said.

Texas prison guards start at about $26,000 a year. After eight years, the salary tops out at about $34,600. Even with the pay raises, Texas still ranks low nationally in correctional officer pay. Last year, it ranked 13th among 16 southern states, according to prison officials.

Even so, prison officials said some remote prisons, such as those in Dalhart and Fort Stockton, are operating more than 20 percent short on staff. A year ago, Dalhart was struggling with a 38 percent vacancy rate that forced officials in January 2008 to mothball more than 300 of the lockup’s 1,300 beds.

Brian Olsen, executive director of a union that represents some Texas correctional officers, and Whitmire say the drop in the vacancy rate should be an opportunity to upgrade the force.

Nationally, a drop in crime rates and the enactment of more treatment and rehabilitation programs have brought a population decrease in most states’ prison systems.