February’s meeting of the board governing the state prison system was given an update on hiring and wages.
The Texas board of criminal justice was told since a 15 percent pay raise began in April of 2022, 1,300 vacant positions have been filled. But the vacancy rate for state corrections officers is 28 percent.
The executive director of the Texas department of criminal justice (TDCJ), Bryan Collier, told the board the legislature’s initial budget proposal includes keeping the 15 percent raise and proposes another raise for state agencies that includes TDCJ correctional officers of five percent or $3,000 dollars, whichever is greater.
Collier also said that was part of “an unprecedented move, both the House and Senate funded many agency exceptional items”. That also includes “major repairs, body cameras, significant probation funding, funding for vehicles, the TDCJ training center, and other items.”
“To say the very least”, Collier told the board, “TDCJ has started the budget process in a very good place.”
Click below to hear comments from Bryan Collier from the February 10, 2023 meeting of the Texas board of criminal justice.