Correctional officers in Georgia prisons could see a significant raise if an amendment to the state budget makes it to the governor’s desk.
Retaining prison guards has been a struggle for the Georgia Department of Corrections for years. Depending on who you ask, understaffing is at the root of everything from escalating prison violence to recidivism.
Part of the problem is pay. The average Georgia correctional officer makes about $35,000 a year. Now a change to the budget being debated by the Georgia Senate would give correctional officers a whopping $9,000 pay hike.
“The Senate proposal will almost double down on the governor’s $5,000 raise, adding an additional $4,000 on top … for sworn filled positions, again, in juvenile justice and the Department of Corrections,” Republican Sen. Blake Tillery of Vidalia said from the floor of the Senate this week.
Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Timothy Ward called the proposed raise a “very big day for corrections.”
“You know, if they want to do what’s right, if they want to help us with this non-negotiable mission, they need to pay our staff,” Ward said. “74% of our inmate population is violent, so the job has been getting a little bit more difficult. So the pay needs to match the difficulty of the job.”
Given the support by Senate Republicans, the measure seems likely to pass. If it does, starting pay for Georgia correctional officers would be about $40,000 dollars a year.
This article appears on NH through a news partnership with GPB News
