Supporting Missouri’s Corrections Employees
There are many difficult jobs throughout our state, but few are as tough as that of being a corrections employee. These brave men and women keep us safe from some of society’s worst offenders. It’s not easy doing what they do, but their work is essential to ensuring the rest of us can live in a safe and stable society.
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit with corrections employees at the Western Missouri Correctional Center and the Crossroads Correctional Center, both located in Cameron, Missouri. It was an enlightening experience to hear what they had to say about the difficulties they face in their everyday jobs from all different aspects of the facilities.
As legislators, we have to make our corrections workers throughout the entire department a priority when it comes to the budget and making their pay competitive with workers in other states. According to a couple of different studies, Missouri ranks 48th when it comes to pay for corrections employees. If we are going to be competitive in recruiting employees this has to change. We also must make investments in safety equipment and upgrades for corrections workers across the facility.
With our booming economy, hiring is becoming more competitive now than ever before. We want to support our corrections employees and we also want to ensure Missouri is able to attract the highest qualified candidates for future openings. A pay raise manages to accomplish two tasks at once; we’re both showing our current employees we value their hard work while also doing our best to attract talented new hires.
As always, please feel free to call, email or write with your ideas or concerns. My Capitol office number is (573) 751-1415, my email is dan.hegeman@senate.mo.gov and my mailing address is Room 332, State Capitol Building, Jefferson City, MO 65101.