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| Prison overtime at $12 million |
| By The Birmingham News |
| Published: 04/12/2004 |
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Alabama's prison overtime costs shot up 645 percent in seven years reaching a 2003 high of $12 million, according to state records. With that bill, the Department of Corrections topped all state agencies in employee overtime last year, paying out nearly half of the $28 million in overtime statewide, records from the state comptroller's office show. Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell says it's partly because the ranks of corrections officers have been drained by the number of workers being deployed for the war in Iraq. About 170 prison officers are deployed with National Guard units. Also, Alabama locked up 5,000 more prisoners in 2003 than in 1997, when the overtime bill was $1.6 million. "There are a certain number of mandatory posts to be covered," Campbell said. "And if we don't have enough staff to cover those posts, it becomes mandatory that we require someone to stay over (from an earlier shift.)" Extra shifts mean some corrections officers earn more than $80,000 annually. One officer was paid $88,961, a $35,867 salary topped by overtime of $53,094 - the departmental high. More than a dozen officers with base salaries of $36,348 earned more than $25,000 in overtime. Some prisons are so short-staffed that overtime is mandatory. At Donaldson Prison, Warden Steve Bullard blamed mandatory overtime for driving employees away. They tire of being away from their families, and take jobs in city or county law enforcement agencies, where the hours are shorter and salaries are higher. Prison officers are allowed to work 88 hours per week, including three 16-hour shifts in a row. The fatigue leads to stress, sickness, short tempers and officers being inattentive on duty, Bullard said. Fortunately, he said, he was unaware of any violence or injury blamed on fatigue. Donaldson, in West Jefferson County, relies on overtime more than any other state prison, paying out $2.4 million last year. St. Clair prison is second. Both are located in the Birmingham metro area where recruitment is tougher because of more plentiful job opportunities than in rural Alabama. Currently, Donaldson's staff is down 65 officers from authorized staff of 274. This creates shortcomings such as low staffing in the prison's mental health unit, where inmates demand more attention and supervision. A federal court settlement in the Bradley mental health lawsuit calls for four officers to oversee the unit's 24 inmates. There is currently only one, Bullard said. One reason overtime bills are high is that the state pays hourly employees at 1.5 times their regular pay for every hour worked over 40. There is also an option to take compensatory time off, but state records show that extra pay is preferred. Officers routinely pocket $10,000 to $15,000 a year in overtime. Campbell said he wishes he did not rely so heavily on overtime, but he had little choice, and no concrete plans to reduce it. |
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