Overtime pay for Illinois' prison guards reportedly jumped 34 percent last year as the state grappled with its overcrowded penal system and Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to close some facilities.
Department of Corrections employees made $62 million in overtime pay in the fiscal year that ended in June, more than in any of the past seven years and more than double the $24 million paid out in 2007, according to the Associated Press.
Prisons officials say the amount of overtime has dropped again in the three months since July, but the previous ballooning of costs corresponded with Quinn's closing of several facilities as a cost-cutting measure.
The state says the costs were driven up by an employee union's challenge to the closings, but union officials reject that argument, saying they are another symptom of managing an already overburdened system.
The concern "is not so much the overtime as it is the safety and security of the staff here," said Frank Turner, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union's branch at the state prison in Pontiac. "With people working overtime, it's harder to stay focused."
The state could soon see thousands more prisoners under legislation being pushed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and others in the annual fall veto session that resumes the first week of November. The measure, intended to help stem the city's gang violence, would lengthen prison time for felons and gang members caught with guns. Even first-time offenders would face a mandatory minimum sentence of three years behind bars.
Corrections officials say it could increase the prison population by nearly 4,000 inmates over the next decade, require $260 million for new prisons and cost $700 million extra annually for operations. As of Friday, there were 48,700 inmates in a system designed for less than 32,100, according to Corrections numbers collected and analyzed by the AP. Corrections spokesman Tom Shaer said overtime increased because AFSCME filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to keep Quinn from closing prison facilities earlier this year, including a penitentiary in Dwight and the state's super-max prison at Tamms. That, Shaer said, prevented the agency from moving displaced staff members, who had first dibs over newly hired cadets, into vacancies.
In rejecting that argument, the union notes that three classes of new correctional officers were hired during that time. The union says it also proposed rules changes and other solutions to "give the department added flexibility to reduce the dangers posed and costs incurred by lack of staff in its facilities," spokesman Anders Lindall said.
According to Shaer, overtime has since dropped. He provided figures showing that during the period from July through September, overtime has declined 22 percent in contrast to the summer of 2012. He said those numbers are the beginning of a trend that could reduce overtime this year by $17 million because there are 9,792 employees in the prisons now, compared to 9,711 before Dwight and Tamms closed.
Local
However, a review of past summertime pay periods shows that since 2007, each of the ten lowest pay periods in terms of overtime were in July, August or September. Shaer acknowledged overtime pay is not always requested at the time it's worked; workers often request payment for past overtime during holiday periods or into the next tax year.
Prison officials say the prison closures should mean relief for other facilities' burdened staffs.
The new mandatory minimum sentencing bill already has been criticized by prison watchdog groups, such as the John Howard Association, for proposing to lock up more inmates for longer periods without addressing prison crowding. The sponsor, Rep. Mike Zalewski, a Riverside Democrat, met with opponents last week in search of a compromise, but said the state still must act.
"Given that public safety is one of our core issues," Zalewski said, "we should always choose to protect the safety of our constituents from those who choose to ignore our laws."
