After declaring an emergency over low staffing at West Virginia corrections facilities last August, Gov. Jim Justice has regularly pointed toward addressing the problem through locality pay, higher wages aimed at more competitive hiring environments.
His announced emergency declaration last year made specific reference to “legislative inactivity on locality pay.”
In this year’s State of the State address, Justice pleaded with lawmakers, “Please address the locality pay. Because we have absolutely, we have an obligation to take care of our prisoners. And we’re going to awaken to something not very good there if we don’t watch out.”
At a news briefing earlier this month, Justice again described locality pay and lamented legislative inaction. “I twice have sent bills up in regard to locality pay for our corrections officers. We didn’t get it done,” Justice said.
A big challenge for the locality pay concept that the governor mentions is that the correctional facilities with the highest vacancy rates are not just in a particular location.
They are all over the state.
Staffing problems at facilities across the state
West Virginia’s jails staffing crisis continues at a very high rate, with 1,040 vacancies across the system. Corrections officials speaking at legislative interim meetings last week described particularly high rates at eight locations.
Corrections officials said the highest vacancy rates are:
76 percent at Potomac Highlands Regional Jail in Augusta, Hampshire County
56 percent at the Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville, Marshall County
54 percent at the Eastern Regional Jail in Martinsburg, Berkeley County
54 percent at Vicki Douglas Juvenile Center in Martinsburg,m Berkeley County
54 percent at Huttonsville Correctional Center, Randolph County
50 percent at the J.M. Chick Buckbee Juvenile Center in Augusta, Hampshire County
47 percent at Western Regional Jail in Barboursville, Cabell County
40 percent at Mount Olive Correctional Center in Fayette County
The overall vacancy rate for corrections officers, state officials said, is 33 percent.
“We currently have abnormally high correctional officer vacancy rates at multiple facilities,” Brad Douglass, executive officer of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told lawmakers.
Governor says he’s receptive to ideas
Asked by MetroNews at a news briefing this week whether locality pay could help address a problem extending to Berkeley, Hampshire, Marshall, Randolph, Fayette and Cabell counties, Justice again expressed frustration that bills backed by his administration haven’t moved. But the governor said he is open to suggestion.
“We’re looking at all the options all the time,” Justice said. “We have absolutely worked hand in hand with the Legislature. If you’ll look at my bill — look at my bill that we just sent up last go-round — absolutely my bill addresses exactly what you’re talking about.
“We’ve got to do something but there’s no need in calling a special session when you’ve got all kinds of people bouncing off the wall. We’ve got to have some level of agreement. That’s all there is to it. And the second we have some level of agreement — and I am so open-minded to anything — but we’ve got to try. We’ve got to try to do something.”
Justice’s administration submitted a bill this past legislative session that would have allowed cost-of-living stipends for up to $10,000 a year for corrections officers.
The stipends would have been at the discretion of the Commissioner of Corrections and Rehabilitation “at facilities where such stipend is determined to be necessary.”
That particular bill was introduced and then did not move.
“If the bills that I sent up there were inadequate then why don’t we amend the bills that I’m sending up there and come up with something that is adequate?” Justice asked this week. “I’ll sign it in a second. That’s all there is to it. I am not giving anybody a hard time, but this is ridiculous. We’ve got to fix this.”
Legislative proposals
During the regular legislative session, lawmakers considered but did not complete passage of at least two bills boosting pay for jail workers.
The House jails committee proposed giving corrections employees with three years of service a $6,000 bonus. Newly-hired corrections workers would have received a $3,000 sign-on bonus, as well as a $3,000 bonus after three years of service. House Bill 2879 was advanced by that committee on Jan. 30 but went no farther.
A separate bill considered in the Senate would have provided additional pay for corrections officers in areas with high economic competition. Senate Bill 464,which would have provided additional locality pay of up to $10,000 a year in addition to the officer’s salary. was advanced by the Senate Government Organization Committee, on Feb. 24, but made no more progress.
Since then, lawmakers have been discussing the best approach toward recruiting and retaining employees in the jails system.
“There is no single fix for the problems facing the critical employee shortage in West Virginia’s jails and prisons,” Delegate David Kelly, R-Tyler, chairman of the House jails committee said last week.
“Locality pay addresses part of the ongoing problem but certainly not all of it. . We are continuing to look at every possible pathway forward to to bring an end to this current state of emergency.”
Delegate Joey Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House jails committee, agreed that state leaders need to keep working toward solutions.
“I have been frustrated for a long period of time, especially during the regular session, because I felt like we weren’t making that a priority to sit down and discuss what the options might be. We had some good proposals, and the governor did put out a proposal that was more linked to locality pay than fixing the issue systemically,” said Garcia, D-Marion.
Garcia said he has been encouraged by conversations over the past month to identify options, how much they might cost and what level of political support might exist. “So I’m hopeful that we’re getting more information and closer to something,” he said.
On locality pay itself, Garcia alluded to past experience. The concept typically crashes in the House of Delegates, where 100 members are from districts all across the state.
“To be blunt, I think locality pay is dead on arrival,” Garcia said.
Looking for higher pay
During legislative interim committee meetings last week, Delegate George Miller, R-Morgan, asked whether locality pay would help address the staffing challenges.
West Virginia Corrections Commissioner Billy Marshall said it’s been challenging to compete with salaries at neighboring states like Maryland. But he said corrections workers at facilities all across West Virginia are looking for higher pay.
“Those areas you talked about – Potomac Highlands, Eastern Regional, Huttonsville – the places where we have severe vacancies, I think the locality pay would help with those facilities. What concerns me is the other facilities that we have where people are working hard every day, and they don’t get the incentive to stay, so what’s their reason for that?” Marshall said.
“I do think it would help in those specific areas, but right now our people still have faith, they still have belief in what we’re doing. They’re holding on. I think a lot are holding on with anticipation of help going their way.”