Budget Committee Recommends Correction Officer Raises

Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

The Milwaukee County Board’s budget committee approved a pay raise for corrections officers (CO) at the county’s detention facilities Thursday.

Under a budget amendment introduced by Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson and eight other supervisors, corrections officers would receive a substantial pay increase. Minimum hourly pay would grow from $26 to $30.

Correction Officer pay has become a major issue for the board after supervisors began investigating conditions in the county’s detention facilities. The Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO) and the Community Reintegration Center (CRC) both face difficulties hiring and retaining enough COs to staff the Milwaukee County Jail and the CRC fully. In the jail, specifically, the MCSO has maintained that understaffing and the agency’s reliance on forced overtime is burning out its workforce and is the greatest challenge to the facility and conditions there.

The increase also brings the county closer to the new $33-an-hour starting pay for state correctional officers that will take effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

“The board has heard for months repeated asks to raise pay for correctional officers, as we strive to improve the safety and living conditions of residents in our care,” Nicholson told the Budget Committee. “So this proposal increases CO pay to $30 an hour; importantly, this CO pay increase is coupled with other elements to support the well-being and safety of residents in our care.”

Other components of the proposal include a $500,000 increase to the correctional healthcare contract with Wellpath, Inc. to expand mental healthcare and dental services in the detention facilities, with a request that county officials explore a partnership with the Marquette University School of Dentistry, and a directive to have the county’s Human Resources and Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget work with the Jail and CRC to develop a plan to shorten the hiring time for correctional officers and to improve employee morale and culture.

The directives come from Sup. Shawn Rolland, who told his colleagues Thursday that, while important, pay increases were not the only solution to staffing trouble.

Rolland said onboarding time for corrections officers can be up to two months, and that this is likely costing them candidates. He also referenced employee surveys that show many COs are unhappy with the current culture and the way they are treated by their commanders.

The county’s top court officials, Chief Judge Carl Ashley and District Attorney John Chisholm voiced their support for increasing CO pay.

“We desperately need to be more competitive and the big picture is that we will serve our community better if we’re fully staffed, and if we have continuity of those officers working in those various positions and our community,” Ashley said.

In recent history, the county’s budget discussions have revolved around what to cut and what to hold onto, Chisholm said, adding that he was “deeply appreciative” of the board’s effort to make the county competitive for CO pay in order to retain “adequately trained, experienced and professional correctional officers.”

“When a person is arrested, and not yet been adjudicated for the allegations against them, we have an obligation to keep them safe and keep them healthy while they’re in our custody and care,” Chisholm said. “If we don’t do that, we pay.”

Omnibus Funding Package

The funding for CO pay was included in a larger budget amendment containing funding for 12 other budget items.

Some of the other items are funding for the Bender Park boat launch, shoreline restoration for the Mitchell and Kosciuszko Park lagoons, fencing for Boerner Botanical Park, an additional $200,000 for transit security and funding for a housing insecurity program for MATC students.

Supervisors regularly call these larger, packaged amendments ‘omnibus amendments’ or ‘superamendments’ and they are assembled to tie together, in one vote, enough budget priorities for different supervisors to, typically, secure passage.

The amendment was ultimately sponsored by supervisors Nicholson, Liz Sumner, Rolland, Willie Johnson, Jr., Steven Shea, Steve Taylor, Sheldon Wasserman, Caroline Gómez-Tom, Felesia Martin, Sequanna Taylor and Peter Burgelis.

“This may not be a perfect budget, but it’s the perfect one that we can put out right now and do what we need to do,” said Sequanna Taylor.

“There are some issues I have with the omnibus, I mean, it’s mostly throwing more money at the sheriff’s department,” said Sup. Juan Miguel Martinez. He added that he hoped the package would lead to “more accountability and transparency from the sheriff’s department.” The supervisor joined his colleagues on the Budget Committee in unanimously recommending the amendment for approval.

Nicholson praised the board’s amendment. “I am proud that County Board Supervisors were able to coalesce around this funding proposal to enhance critical county services, invest in public safety and promote our cultural institutions,” said the chairwoman in a statement after the vote.