Mid-Missouri jails face corrections officer shortage

Jails across Mid-Missouri are stretching their resources to make up for a shortage in corrections officers. At the Boone County Jail, inmates outnumber officers nearly four to one.

Capt. Keith Hoskins,Boone County Jail Detention Director, said the jail currently has 11 positions open, up from seven open positions in July.

“Not everybody can work in a detention facility,” he said. “It takes a special type of person that can work in a detention facility that can be passionate but still hold detainees to the rules and regulations that they have to be held to.”

Hoskins said the jail is at maximum capacity of detainees at 187 inmates, while the number of corrections officers is down 20 percent

“It’s the minimum that we need to run smoothly, efficiently and effectively for the safety and security of all the occupants of the facility,” he said.

The Boone County Jail isn’t the only detention center short-staffed.Lt. Clay Chism with theCallaway County Sheriff’s Officesaid the Callaway County Jail is consistently short at least three corrections officers.

“It’s extremely difficult to recruit and retain quality employees and not to mention the dangers,” said Lt. Chism.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, corrections officers have the second most dangerous job in the country, right behind construction workers.Corrections officers are likely to be injured 36 times more on the job than other professions.

“They could be assaulted at any given second by a prisoner,” Lt. Chism said.

Capt. Hoskins said one corrections officer was sent to the hospital for stitches and a concussion this year after an inmate attacked him with a food.

But officials say the risk of injury isn’t what is keeping applicants away from the job. Sometimes it’s the pay.

Lt. Chism told ABC 17 News, “Our Sheriff office funding is 100% general revenue funding. So, again, competing with those nearby agencies just salary-wise that’s extremely difficult.”