Starting pay for Texas' prison guards will rise 10 percent in May, the largest increase in years, in a move designed to keep a chronic statewide shortage of correctional officers from getting worse.

In a previously unannounced move, the prison system's governing board on Thursday unanimously approved raising the starting pay for guards from $23,046 to $25,416, and increasing the pay about as much for those who stay on the job for 16 months.

Guards who have been employed longer will not receive an increase at this time, officials said. About 8,000 correctional officers statewide will receive a pay raise.

In addition, the board approved a $1,500 signing bonus beginning April 1 for new hires who will work at the most understaffed prisons. Twenty-two state prisons have less than 80 percent of the guards they should have, officials said.

In all, the state is short more than 3,500 guards, out of about 26,000 total positions.
Thursday's move came after months of concern that the continuing staff shortages posed an increasing safety issue in Texas prisons, the nation's second-largest state system.
Two months ago, guards publicly protested their rate of pay and said staff shortages had reached dangerous levels at several prisons.

Officials closed one wing of a Dalhart lockup in October because too few guards were available to safely supervise it. It was the first time in recent history such a closure had been ordered.

"We hope this makes a difference," Brad Livingston, executive director of the prison system, said of Thursday's vote. The correctional officer staffing "is the most critical issue we face."

Though most rank-and-file prison employees applauded the increase, they predicted it would create a new problem: Veteran officers who get no pay raise might quit or retire.
"It won't solve the problem," said Brian Olsen, executive director of the correctional officers union. "It's a morale buster for the veterans because they're still 48th in the country in pay and, let me tell you what, they're already raising hell about it.

"I think you may see the turnover number for veterans go way up now."

Livingston pledged that Thursday's move is only the first of several to raise the pay of all officers. "More comprehensive salary adjustments will be a key component of our 2010-2011 legislative appropriations request," he said.

The pay increase will cost the state almost $20 million, including $15 million for the higher salaries and $4.5 million for the signing bonuses, according to Livingston.
The money will come from the agency's $2.5 billion annual budget, officials said.
If not enough money can be found there, Livingston said, a transfer of funds from next year's budget might be requested.

"But it's too early to tell if we'll have to do that," Livingston said.

Gov. Rick Perry and legislative leaders approved the unusual midyear pay increase to avoid even greater shortages during the late spring and summer, when vacancies among guards tend to go up, Livingston said.

When prisons are short of guards, convicts cannot be supervised as closely as they should be, and programs have to be canceled. With too few guards on duty to cover key posts, some prisons have had to keep inmates confined to their cells to avoid trouble.
Livingston said the turnover rate for officers within their first year on the job is 43 percent, compared with 24 percent overall.

"We are focused on making significant headway" to ease the staffing problem, Livingston said.

Texas prison pay

Position No. of workers Current pay Proposed pay Months on job
Correctional officer 1 678 $23,046 $25,416 0-2
Correctional officer 2 1,775 $24,900 $26.940 3-8
Correctional officer 3* 4,910 $27,001 to $30,202 Same 9-36
Correctional officer 4 5,901 $31,077 to $32,936 Same 37-96
Correctional officer 5 9,537 $33,946 Same 97 and up
*Only some officers to get increase. Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice