How to Investigate Prison Staffing Trends in Your State

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Learn this primary

No state-level authorities sector has seen a larger loss in staffing than prisons lately — even because the variety of incarcerated folks is rebounding in lots of locations after a number of years of great declines after the beginning of the pandemic. When a jail has workers shortages, each facet of the system is affected, together with safety, the power to go exterior and entry to varied providers, household visits and medical appointments. Prisons change into extra reliant on facility lockdowns, which might have an effect on psychological well being and set off extra violence. These points typically result in harmful working circumstances for the remaining staff.

Extra hiring and decreasing incarceration are each potential options to jail staffing shortages. Some correctional officers and incarcerated folks argue that releasing older people — who pose little threat and require pricey care — must be a part of the method.

Even for these tired of jail circumstances, the monetary impression is difficult to disregard. Understaffed prisons depend on pricey necessary time beyond regulation, straining state budgets and taxpayers.

This toolkit comprises information from a Census Bureau survey of presidency pay and employment, together with reporting assets primarily based on The Marshall Challenge’s ongoing protection. As well as, you’ll be able to schedule a session to debate particular reporting hurdles in your jurisdiction or get basic recommendation on navigating the felony justice beat.

Get the information

The Census Bureau compiles authorities payroll information by the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll (ASPEP).

This survey gathers info on how many individuals work in several state and native authorities features, from air transportation to corrections techniques and policing. The Marshall Challenge compiled the historic state-level authorities employment information from 2003 to 2023.

Obtain the information right here, together with hyperlinks to detailed documentation from the Census Bureau and caveats we found whereas reporting.

This information is beneficial for understanding yearly adjustments in state-level authorities staffing throughout authorities features. For instance, this information can be utilized to trace and report on employment by state college techniques in addition to state jail techniques. Tendencies in different features can be in contrast towards correctional staffing.

Staffing figures inform solely a part of the story, because the Census information — which counts all state correction system staff, together with administrative workers — might differ from company information. You need to try to report additional by contacting your state’s corrections division, displaying contacts these figures and asking them to substantiate and clarify the numbers utilizing their very own information.

Prior to now, the Census Bureau’s press workplace has been out there to reply questions on ASPEP. You’ll be able to attain its public info officers at pio@census.gov.

Use these interview questions

We’ve created an inventory of reporting questions that you just’re welcome to make use of when interviewing state companies answerable for administering prisons, the amenities themselves, teams like labor unions and other people affected by the system.

Here’s a tip sheet with our beneficial questions as a place to begin on your reporting.

State-specific information factors

Twenty-five states confirmed jail employment losses of 10% or extra from 2019 to 2023. Georgia (-27%), North Carolina (-27%), Nevada (-26%), New Jersey (-22%), and Wyoming (-20%) confirmed drops of 20% or larger in contrast with 2019.
Regardless of the long-term nationwide pattern of lowering correctional staffing, some states noticed an upswing from 2022 to 2023. Tennessee (11%), Mississippi (10%) and Kentucky (10%) elevated correctional staffing by 10% or extra, whereas Texas and Florida each reported greater than 1,000 further staff in 2023 than in 2022.
Georgia, which had the biggest share lower in staffing from 2019 to 2023, has skilled sustained issues with jail deaths and violence that proceed as of 2025.
North Carolina had the biggest drop in correctional employment from 2022 to 2023 — 18% in a single 12 months. WUNC interviewed the chief deputy secretary of operations on the state corrections company in 2024, citing a 40% emptiness fee. In the identical 12 months, a author who has now been incarcerated for 23 years within the state stated, “I’ve by no means seen prisons this uncontrolled.”
Louisiana adopted laws in 2024 that eliminates parole for most individuals shifting ahead, one thing that’s prone to enhance the jail inhabitants. After vital losses throughout the pandemic, Louisiana noticed a rise in jail staffing from 2022 to 2023, however staffing was nonetheless 8% decrease than 2019 ranges. On the identical time, pay elevated per full-time worker by 32% from 2019 to 2023.
Lately, West Virginia (which has seen one of many bigger p.c decreases since 2019), Florida (which added over 1,000 corrections workers from 2022 to 2023) and New Hampshire (which had a five-year lower of about 11%) have known as within the Nationwide Guard to assist their jail operations. How did officers justify that method? What’s being performed in these states to cut back their reliance on utilizing the Nationwide Guard as jail workers sooner or later?
Whereas half of all states elevated their jail staffing from 2022 to 2023, the decline in New York continued with a lack of 4% 12 months over 12 months. In early 2025, guards went on an unauthorized strike citing understaffing, security and pay as major considerations.
Missouri is among the many backside 5 states for pay per worker and noticed one of many largest drops in total employment — 18% — from 2019 to 2023. Nonetheless, the state elevated pay per worker by 38% in that point, one of many largest will increase within the nation, and noticed a slight enhance in employment from 2022 to 2023.
Ohio, which ranked within the prime 10 for total jail employment, was in the midst of the pack for losses with a lack of about 10% from 2019 to 2023. Pay per worker elevated about 26%, which can be roughly within the center amongst US states.
Mississippi has the bottom pay per correctional workers within the nation. The state noticed a small drop in employment of 1% from 2019 to 2023, largely resulting from one of many highest will increase in staffing (10%) from 2022 to 2023.
A number of states had negligible losses or small positive aspects in staffing from 2019 to 2023 – Iowa, Alaska, Washington, Utah, Nebraska, Mississippi, North Dakota, Idaho, Rhode Island, and Hawaii.

Skilled sources

Kelli Canada, College of Missouri, affiliate director of analysis and affiliate professor: Canada and her group developed the Missouri Innovation Community, a mannequin that “introduced collectively workers members and jail residents to debate and implement methods to enhance circumstances.” She will converse to how jail workers shortages impression jail tradition and local weather. Electronic mail: canadake@missouri.edu

Brian Dawe, One Voice United, nationwide director: Dawe runs the advocacy group for correctional officers that describes itself as “a conduit for correctional officers and workers to lift problems with concern and voice their opinions.”

Shannon Heffernan, The Marshall Challenge, workers author. Heffernan stories on jail circumstances and the experiences of the incarcerated, their households and corrections officers, amongst different felony justice subjects. She beforehand lined Illinois prisons for 15 years whereas reporting for WBEZ. Electronic mail: sheffernan@themarshallproject.org

Terrica Redfield Ganzy, Southern Heart for Human Rights (SCHR), government director. Ganzy has over 20 years of litigation, advocacy and educating expertise concerning a variety of points associated to the felony authorized system, significantly within the South. She will converse to issues associated to indigent protection, racial inequity, jail and jail circumstances, criminalization of poverty, the demise penalty, and coaching requirements for legal professionals dealing with capital circumstances. Electronic mail: tganzy@schr.org

Alan Mills, Uptown Individuals’s Legislation Heart, of counsel lawyer and former government director. UPLC is a community-based authorized clinic that advocates for incarcerated folks in Illinois, in addition to poor and uncared for folks in Chicago. Mills can converse to the impacts of correctional officer staffing shortages in prisons, in addition to shortages of non-CO personnel corresponding to medical and psychological well being workers. Electronic mail: alan@uplcchicago.org

Nicole Schult, Uptown Individuals’s Legislation Heart, authorized director. Schult works on UPLC’s incarcerated folks’s rights circumstances, together with the entire group’s class motion circumstances. Electronic mail: nicole@uplcchicago.org

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Sourcing concerns

Tales about staffing declines in jail profit from a mixture of sources. Incarcerated folks and their households may help distill the hurt of declining workers and overpopulation in prisons. Institutional sources corresponding to jail union representatives and jail officers can make clear the coverage failures that led to a decline in staffing, whereas additionally exposing the results for folks employed within the amenities.

Reaching institutional sources

Workers who’re presently employed in a jail are sometimes barred from giving interviews with out approval from the administration. These interviews could also be obligatory and even fruitful. However to get a extra nuanced image, you’ll need to attain officers who can converse overtly. We suggest a number of approaches.

Contact your native officers’ union. Many states have an official union that represents corrections officers. To be taught extra in regards to the union in your state, you’ll be able to learn business reporting by Corrections1 or go to our correction officer union tag web page in The Document.

Request the workers record. One other solution to discover jail staff is to formally request the workers record and cold-call folks. Nonetheless, ready on a information request may be time-consuming and there’s no assure folks will converse with you. If speaking with former workers can be helpful, you might be able to request an inventory of workers who lately vacated their positions.

Use LinkedIn. In case you are trying into a particular jail, search for officers on LinkedIn utilizing the jail title. We’ve discovered that these sources are sometimes higher-ranking than the workers who work immediately with incarcerated folks. Nonetheless, these interviews may be illuminating. When you discover previous staff, that may be helpful, too, as they could have extra latitude to provide an official interview.

Reaching incarcerated folks

The Marshall Challenge is in contact with incarcerated sources across the nation. In some circumstances, we might be able to join you to somebody behind bars in your state. Please attain out to our engagement editor, Nicole Lewis, if you’re occupied with being linked to an incarcerated supply.

There are some vital issues to contemplate when interviewing incarcerated folks. For starters, folks in jail can typically face penalties for talking to the press. Earlier than you attain out, learn the entries on knowledgeable consent, people-first language and constructing belief on our assets web page.

Household first. Members of the family of the incarcerated may be nice sources of details about jail circumstances. They will additionally enable you join immediately with their family members behind bars. We suggest looking for member of the family Fb teams in your state, utilizing names of particular prisons. Many of those teams are personal, however you’ll be able to good friend and message the moderators and allow them to know what you’re on the lookout for.

Seek the advice of the lawsuits. Typically lawsuits about hurt because of declining staffing make their solution to court docket. You’ll find federal lawsuits in your state through the use of PACER and CourtListener to search for individuals who have sued over this concern. You may also attain out to native civil rights legal professionals or advocacy teams and see in the event that they’ll join you to their purchasers in jail.

Join with folks coming residence. Individuals coming residence from jail are sometimes capable of converse extra freely than folks behind bars. Take into account reaching out to reentry amenities close to you to see if workers would join you to somebody who was lately launched. Some states publish lists of parolees, which might present start line for figuring out folks to interview or converse with.

Join with related organizations

As you suppose by your reporting plan, here’s a record of organizations that may assist add nationwide context to your story and might be able to enable you hook up with skilled sources in addition to sources who’re or have been incarcerated.

If you wish to join with legal professionals engaged on enhancing jail circumstances, or be taught extra about ongoing human rights lawsuits behind bars, contact the ACLU Nationwide Jail Challenge.
Take into account reaching out to the Nationwide Institute of Corrections to talk with jail workers and administrative officers to be taught extra about jail coverage and coaching.
For information and analysis on prisons in your state, you’ll be able to contact the Vera Institute of Justice.

Fashion and requirements steering

Listed below are a few the thorny points that would come up throughout the reporting course of, and steering on the way to resolve them:

Complicated options. Understaffing in prisons is a systemic concern that doesn’t have a straightforward answer. Your reporting primarily based on talking with official sources, advocates in your state and other people behind bars will reveal the angle on your story. These items are at their greatest when exploring the nuances.

Individuals-first language. When you embrace interviews with folks in jail or workers working behind bars, please evaluate our assets web page, the place you’ll find language and elegance steering.

Share your work

Thanks for utilizing this toolkit to create your personal native felony justice reporting! Please assist us monitor your work and probably share it in our publication by emailing us a hyperlink to your reporting.