By Joe Rogalsky,
Delaware State News
DOVER — The state's legislative budget writing panel decided Monday to use a portion of the money Gov. Ruth Ann Minner proposed setting aside to fund security upgrades in Delaware's prisons to hire five new correctional officers.
The officers, who would be stationed at the Baylor Women's Correctional Facility in New Castle, will cost about $177,000 in fiscal 2006, which begins July 1.
"The facility is dreadfully understaffed," said Sen. James T. Vaughn, D-Clayton, a member of the legislature's Joint Finance Committee and a former commissioner of corrections.
"A couple years ago they had inmates answering the damn telephone up there. That money is for security at all the prisons."
In her January budget recommendations, Gov. Minner allocated $1.7 million to pay for security upgrades in response to two task forces investigating a July 12 incident at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna.
In the July incident, an inmate took a prison counselor hostage for nearly seven hours and raped her before being shot by a correctional officer.
A governor-appointed panel and a federal organization investigated the incident and made many recommendations for the state's prison system, including staffing improvements.
Jennifer W. Davis, the governor's budget director, said the new positions are part of the state's planned security upgrades
"Correctional officers are security," Mrs. Davis said.
She said she discussed the plan to add officers with Commissioner of Corrections Stanley W. Taylor and Sen. Vaughn two weeks ago.
"We're fine with it," Mrs. Davis said. "It was in one of the reports."
Last week, the JFC agreed to keep the $1.7 million for security upgrades as part of the Department of Correction's budget next year when the panel works on the agency's fiscal 2007 spending plan.
Beth Welch, a spokeswoman for Mr. Taylor, said the commissioner was unavailable for comment Monday afternoon.
After the JFC's action on his agency's budget last week, Mr. Taylor said he is still determining which equipment improvements the money will fund in fiscal 2006.
The budget also will contain language requiring Mr. Taylor to submit a report to the legislature detailing the spending plans.
The agency has had difficulty recruiting and retaining officers.
As of May 23, the state has 292 correctional officer vacancies out of 1,863 slots. Another 42 officers are serving on active military duty.
Sen. Vaughn said he hopes the improvements the state has made in officer pay over the past year and recruitment incentives will allow the department to fill the new positions approved Monday.
"That's why we put those things in there," he said.
"Hopefully, they will help."
The JFC will meet again June 13 to continue working on the operating budget.
The panel has not approved budgets for two large agencies — the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social Services.
The panel spent Monday approving language that generally carries over from one year to the next. Members didn't act on controversial language or any provisions dealing with new programs.
For example, the committee decided to wait for more information on a plan from the Delaware National Guard to use unspent tuition-assistance funds to create a recruitment-incentive program.
Staff writer Joe Rogalsky can be reached at 741-8226 or jrogalsky@newszap.com.
Reprinted with permission from newszap.com
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