(The Center Square) – Hiring and retention of employees are among the biggest challenges for Georgia’s prison system, Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver told a House of Representatives committee.
“We lose most of our applicants within the first two years,” Oliver told the Special Subcommittee of Appropriations on State Prisons during its first meeting. “We don’t have a problem getting applicants. The problem occurs in the application process. Eighty percent of them don’t make it through whether it’s they don’t show up for the interview, background checks get them or they have a poor interview.”
Georgia’s salaries are behind Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina. North Carolina recently had a salary increase, so it’s unclear where the state stands, Oliver said.
Salary increases are on the table, but no “hard numbers” are available, he said.
The department’s fiscal year budget is $1.5 billion. The budget includes a 4% cost-of-living adjustment up to $3,000 and a $3,000 law enforcement salary increase, according to the department.
Gov. Brian Kemp commissioned an “in-depth, system-wide assessment” from consulting company Guidehouse on the state’s prisons in June. The report should be ready in mid to late December, Oliver said.
The prisons are 93% full but not overcrowded, he said.
“We don’t have anyone sleeping on boats or on the floor or anything like that. Every offender has a bed,” Oliver said.
The state’s prison capacity is 57,252, Oliver said. Almost 50,000 inmates were in state facilities in November.
The recidivism rate is just over 26%, according to 2021 numbers. For inmates who completed vocational programs’ recidivism rate was 13.64%, Assistant Commissioner for Inmate Services Jay Sanders told the panel. More than 45,000 inmates completed programs ranging from on-the-job training to post-secondary classes through the department’s Career, Technical and Higher Education unit, he said.
The panel will likely hold one more meeting before the 2025 General Assembly begins, said Chairman Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin.
