LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Officials at Louisville’s jail are testing a new staffing strategy designed to reduce the heavy reliance on mandatory overtime that has stretched corrections officers for years.
Metro Corrections leaders say the plan, introduced in February, will temporarily reassign staff from other jail operations to help cover housing unit security when staffing levels fall short, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports.
The approach — referred to as “surge staffing” — is intended to reduce the number of hours officers are required to stay past their shifts to meet state observation requirements.
“We’re still going to use scheduled overtime… we’re still approximately 85 sworn positions down,” Metro Corrections Director Jerry Collins told the Metro government’s Public Safety Committee on March 4. “What this does is allow us to efficiently use all of our staff and reduce that burden that is on our youngest staff for security.”
Short staffing continues to strain operations
The Louisville Metro Department of Corrections has struggled with staffing shortages for years, forcing officers to regularly work up to 16 hours of mandatory overtime each week.
According to Collins, the largest gap exists in floor security positions, where roughly 40 vacancies remain. Officers assigned to those posts supervise incarcerated individuals in housing units and are responsible for meeting observation standards required by the state.
Under the new plan, employees from other areas, such as the jail’s property room, may temporarily assist housing unit staff for one- to two-hour shifts when shortages occur.
Officials say the change won’t eliminate overtime entirely, but could help reduce the amount of forced overtime officers face.
Metro Corrections employees have received about $7 million in overtime pay each year for the past four years, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports.
Turnover remains a challenge
Collins said reducing overtime could also help improve retention inside the department.
The jail currently has an attrition rate of about 16%, and many officers who leave do so within the first couple of years on the job. Those newer employees are often assigned to floor security.
Recent wage increases included in union contracts may also help keep officers from leaving, Collins said.
Union leaders have repeatedly warned that the combination of staffing shortages and mandatory overtime has led to burnout among corrections staff.
The staffing discussion comes as Louisville’s downtown jail continues to deal with overcrowding.
Louisville Metro data shows the jail’s average daily population reached 1,588 inmates on Feb. 26, the highest level since October 2021, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. Since last summer, the population has remained above 1,400 inmates, exceeding the facility’s rated capacity of 1,373.
The main jail building, constructed in 1968, is exempt from some state population requirements due to its age.
Would a “surge staffing” model — temporarily reassigning staff to housing units during shortages — work at your facility? Why or why not?
Corrections1 readers respond:
- In the short term it may help, but long term it will not. More people will retire asap. The senior officers in those positions earned those jobs. They did their time on the floor.
