Parson announces consolidation of Crossroads prison, DOC pay raise

Gov. Mike Parson announced Wednesday at his State of the State address that inmates and employees at the Crossroads Correctional Center will be transferring to the Western Missouri Correctional Center, which will allow for a pay raise across the department.

The transition will take place over the next several months, according to Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe.

“Crossroads will go into caretaker status, so we will maintain the facility operationally,” Precythe said. “But we will not have inmates housed there, nor will we have employees working there.”

The decision was made to help ensure that the state can deliver “a much needed pay raise,” Parson said.

Precythe said that no layoffs will occur because of the change.

ABC 17 News found that the DOC spent $26 million on employee overtime in 2018, which is triple the amount from five years ago. Corrections officer pay in Missouri also ranks among the lowest in the country.

Consolidating the prisons, along with a contribution by Parson’s administration to the pay plan, will save the the department “in the neighborhood of $35 million,” Precythe said.

“It’s not going to require any additional releasing of offenders. It’s the highest pay increase for the Department of Corrections in the history of Missouri,” Precythe said.

Following the address, Democrats immediately expressed doubt that there is enough money in the state budget to fund all of Parson’s proposals. However, the party’s minority whip, Rep. Brendan Ellington of Kansas City, was supportive of the transfer of inmates.

“The Crossroads facility has been allowed to fester in all types of federal violations,” Ellington said. “I think consolidation is a good thing, but I do need to see (Parson’s) plan on it.”