Monroe prison short on staff

MONROE — The Monroe Correctional Complex is scrambling to hire dozens of correctional officers and medical workers to replace employees who are headed to military deployments abroad while the state’s largest prison continues to grow.

Over the next few months, the complex needs to add up to 55 prison guards and about 30 medical and mental health workers, interim superintendent Dan Pacholke said.

“There’s been a lot of overtime being used,” Pacholke said. “We are doing OK right now.”

The Monroe prison complex houses about 2,500 offenders and employs about 1,100 people. Running the complex costs about $107 million annually.

State officials opened a new 200-bed maximum security unit in the winter. The unit requires additional staff, Pacholke said. Plus, about 25 staff members, including correctional officers, are set to leave for military service abroad later this year.

“We are holding more job fairs,” he said. “We are trying to get the word out.”

With the state paying low wages in the past, staff shortages at the Monroe prison complex have been common, said Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe.

“They’ve always had a hard time trying to keep correctional officers,” said Pearson, who sits on the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee, which handles prison issues.

When the staff is short, the prison requires mandatory overtime, Pearson said. When correctional officers work 70 hours a week, they don’t function well, putting the complex’s operational security at risk.

“These people are doing the best they can,” he said.

The state has 15 prisons. In addition to the Monroe prison complex, six other prisons are also expected to expand over the next two years. Overall, the state aims to add 3,500 beds at prisons by 2009.

Monroe correctional officers got a raise last year. Now beginning correctional officers start at about $39,000 per year, not including overtime. That’s about $2,000 more than the average annual cost of keeping an inmate behind bars in Monroe.

“I was very happy they did get a raise,” Pearson said. “I think it will help somewhat.”

That the prison complex is in Monroe makes it challenging to hire qualified workers, Pacholke said. The growing city of about 16,000 people is in an urban part of Snohomish County within easy reach of other opportunities and bigger paychecks.

“It’s been difficult to recruit,” he said. “There’s a lot of businesses in this area.”

Pacholke worked as the superintendent at Stafford Creek Corrections Center near Aberdeen before coming to Monroe in April. Pacholke replaced Ken Quinn, who is undergoing medical treatment.

The prison complex is the largest employer in Monroe, said Neil Watkins, executive director of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce. About 900 people in the community volunteer at the prison complex as well.

“The chamber would always be supportive of the creation and filling of jobs in the community,” Watkins said. Monroe is not immune to a slowdown of the national economy, he said.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.