More than 1 1/2 years after a 15-day hostage standoff at a prison in Buckeye, Az. pay levels for state correctional officers remain so low that the Department of Corrections is struggling to fill more than 1,300 job openings and forcing officers to work overtime to keep inmates secured.

Although officials say public safety has not been jeopardized and assaults on officers are down, short staffing and mandatory overtime are blamed for officer burnout and rampant turnover. About 75 officers resign every month. For each one who quits, the state has to pay about $11,000 to train a new one.

Last year, Arizona legislators boosted pay $1,400 for correctional officers, on top of a 1.7 percent raise for all state employees, but officer pay remains thousands of dollars below other law enforcement agencies in the Phoenix area.

Officials are boosting recruitment efforts, bringing back media advertising campaigns and job fairs that had been suspended in recent years because of budget cuts. The next job fair is Saturday at the Lewis prison, which typically has one of the highest job vacancy rates of any prison in the state.

Some prisons, such as those in Buckeye and Tucson, need more than 200 officers. The average vacancy rate increased from 11.4 percent in fiscal 2004 to 18.6 percent in fiscal 2005. The fiscal year starts July 1.

Starting pay for correctional officers is $26,364 with last year's pay hike. Top pay is $42,997. By comparison, detention officers at the Maricopa County jails start at $31,179. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for corrections officers and jailers nationwide in 2003 was $33,160.

In just the last two months, 141 correctional officers have quit. Even incentive pay and stipends at some of the more remote prisons haven't stopped the exodus. Nearly a third of officers who resign cite financial considerations. Others cite things such as health and family considerations and new career opportunities.