Starting salary jumps to $28.24 an hour

The Michigan Department of Corrections is raising starting pay for corrections officers working in the Upper Peninsula. The department announced the increase Friday to address chronic staffing shortages at five of the region’s six prisons.

Starting hourly pay for new recruits will rise from $23.45 to $28.24. That is a yearly increase of approximately $10,000, according to the department.

The new starting rate matches what was typical for officers who had already worked for two years.

Five prisons affected by the pay hike

The increased starting pay will affect officers at the following facilities:

  • Marquette Branch Prison
  • Baraga Correctional Facility
  • Alger Correctional Facility
  • Kinross Correctional Facility
  • Chippewa Correctional Facility

The department selected these prisons based on staff vacancy rates. Officials described the locations as "hard to recruit" areas of the state.

Part of the Safe Prisons Initiative

The pay increase is part of the Safe Prisons Initiative that launched in March. The program aims to improve safety and security in prisons through upgrading prisoner programming, implementing tech improvements and utilizing new tactics to improve employee recruitment and retention.

"This increase provides a strong incentive for men and women in the U.P. to join our department’s mission and we look forward to welcoming them as part of the MDOC team," said Jeremy Bush, deputy director of the state’s Correctional Facilities Administration, in a statement attached to the press release. "We know these facilities need the additional support and we are excited to see qualified local community members step up and heed the call."

What this means for Saginaw and statewide

The Upper Peninsula pay raise comes as Michigan prisons face a broader staffing crisis. According to state numbers reported by Gander Newsroom, the average officer vacancy rate across Michigan’s 26 prisons was 15.8 percent as of January. Ten of those facilities were short at least 20 percent of their officers.

In the Upper Peninsula, as many as one in three positions are empty at some prisons, according to the report. There were 355 assaults on prison staff recorded in the most recent data.

Saginaw residents may feel the ripple effects of these staffing challenges. State corrections policy impacts jury duty pools, probation and parole systems, and job opportunities for residents seeking state employment. The Saginaw Valley has historically drawn workers to state agencies, and changes in compensation structures in one region can influence hiring practices statewide.

The pay increase does not apply to all Michigan prisons. It is limited to the five Upper Peninsula facilities named by the department.

Next steps

The Safe Prisons Initiative remains active. The department has not announced a timeline for expanding the pay increase to other regions of the state. Lawmakers have introduced bills to address prison staffing that have remained stalled in the House clerk’s office for 17 months, according to Gander Newsroom.