Pay raises for prison officers are good use of extra state revenue

The state's corrections officer corps has been distressed since the abduction and rape of a prison counselor and a guard subsequently shot to death the inmate who attacked the woman.

The Corrections Department struggles to do its job with 42 staff members on military duty and another 290 or so vacancies that have been difficult to fill. The low starting salaries for one of the most demanding jobs in government make recruiting tough.

The Legislature and Gov. Minner have raised the starting salaries and hazardous duty pay to a level that should help attract more high school graduates to the work. Over the last year and a half, the entry-level corrections salary will have increased nearly 15 percent, from $28,234 last June to $32,376 on July 1, if recommendations by the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee are upheld. Coupled with another recommended $600 raise in hazard pay, that's a significant gain.

But this had to happen because Delaware's guard force had been one of the lowest paid in regional law enforcement. Now only New Jersey will offer higher starting pay.

In addition, the Joint Finance Committee recommended that corrections officers and other critical workers, such as nurses and engineers, receive salary adjustments twice a year instead of the usual annual raises on July 1. The committee has set aside $5.5 million in a special account to cover the new salary schedules.

This idea is better than the original request of the corrections officers' union to create a new career ladder. The pay increases are a timely response to one of the most pressing problems of the Correction Department. Low pay and insufficient staff have prevented opening the new women's work release center in New Castle, though construction was completed last year. The finance committee plan is wise use of the state's unanticipated extra revenue.