HOW MISSISSIPPI’S LABOR MARKET, ECONOMY, AND FUNDING IMPACT PRISON UNDERSTAFFING

Abstract

Understaffing is a problem within the Mississippi Department of Corrections, but Mississippi’s poor labor market, struggling economy, and deficient budget do not currently support the needs of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and demonstrate factors which limit the agency’s abilities to adequately staff its facilities. First, the state of Mississippi’s labor market performance ranks 48th overall among the 50 states and its unemployment rate was 5.8%, ranked 45th among the 50 states. Reservation wage represents an important factor in analyzing Mississippi’s labor market and the reported hourly wage for correctional officers was $13.88. This same wage is provided to arguably safer occupations than working as a correctional officer making it difficult to persuade labor force participants to accept offers in such a dangerous occupation. Mississippi reports a 36% annual turnover in correctional staffing representing struggles in retaining the staff currently in place. The Mississippi Department of Corrections will continue struggling to compete with other low-wage occupations until they can offer competitive wages. Second, Mississippi’s economy also ranked 48th among the 50 states. Since 2010, Mississippi’s population only grew 0.6% and its per capita income sat at about 70% of the national figure. Many of Mississippi’s prisons are built in struggling non-metropolitan areas limiting the pool of residents from which to hire. Improving staffing turns on working within the means of the state’s economic statistics and finding ways to improve the economy. Finally, Mississippi cut the MDOC’s budget by $215 million over the past six years. Funding is necessary to properly manage and operate a prison. The MDOC is not an industry which maintains any control over its own population and thus the more prisoners being housed, the more staff is needed, and the more funding required. Potential solutions to the understaffing issue exist, such as closing facilities, releasing prisoners, learning from what other states implement, and reconsidering funding. There is an opportunity for Mississippi to get ahead of this issue and address it before the problem is placed in the court’s hands or the state will have little to no say in how this issue is corrected.