Replace 01:20 p.m. 03.05.2025
That is the newest model of this reporting toolkit. See an earlier model within the Wayback Machine.
Learn this primary
No state-level authorities sector has seen a better loss in staffing than prisons in recent times — even because the variety of incarcerated individuals is rebounding in lots of locations after a couple of years of serious declines after the beginning of the pandemic. When a jail has workers shortages, each side of the system is affected, together with safety, the flexibility to go exterior and entry to numerous companies, household visits and medical appointments. Prisons change into extra reliant on facility lockdowns, which may have an effect on psychological well being and set off extra violence. These points usually result in harmful working situations for the remaining staff.
Extra hiring and lowering incarceration are each potential options to jail staffing shortages. Some correctional officers and incarcerated individuals argue that releasing older people — who pose little danger and require expensive care — ought to be a part of the method.
Even for these tired of jail situations, the monetary impression is difficult to disregard. Understaffed prisons depend on expensive obligatory additional time, straining state budgets and taxpayers.
This toolkit incorporates information from a Census Bureau survey of presidency pay and employment, together with reporting sources based mostly on The Marshall Mission’s ongoing protection. As well as, you’ll be able to schedule a session to debate particular reporting hurdles in your jurisdiction or get common recommendation on navigating the legal justice beat.
Get the info
The Census Bureau compiles authorities payroll information by way of the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll (ASPEP).
This survey gathers info on how many individuals work in several state and native authorities features, from air transportation to corrections methods and policing. The Marshall Mission compiled the historic state-level authorities employment information from 2003 to 2023.
Obtain the info right here, together with hyperlinks to detailed documentation from the Census Bureau and caveats we found whereas reporting.
This information is beneficial for understanding yearly adjustments in state-level authorities staffing throughout authorities features. For instance, this information can be utilized to trace and report on employment by state college methods in addition to state jail methods. Traits in different features can be in contrast towards correctional staffing.
Staffing figures inform solely a part of the story, because the Census information — which counts all state correction system staff, together with administrative workers — could differ from company information. You must try and report additional by contacting your state’s corrections division, exhibiting contacts these figures and asking them to substantiate and clarify the numbers utilizing their very own information.
Prior to now, the Census Bureau’s press workplace has been out there to reply questions on ASPEP. You possibly can attain its public info officers at pio@census.gov.
Use these interview questions
We’ve created a listing of reporting questions that you simply’re welcome to make use of when interviewing state businesses accountable for administering prisons, the amenities themselves, teams like labor unions and other people affected by the system.
Here’s a tip sheet with our really helpful questions as a place to begin to your reporting.
State-specific information factors
- Twenty-five states confirmed jail employment losses of 10% or extra from 2019 to 2023. Georgia (-27%), North Carolina (-27%), Nevada (-26%), New Jersey (-22%), and Wyoming (-20%) confirmed drops of 20% or better in contrast with 2019.
- Regardless of the long-term nationwide pattern of reducing correctional staffing, some states noticed an upswing from 2022 to 2023. Tennessee (11%), Mississippi (10%) and Kentucky (10%) elevated correctional staffing by 10% or extra, whereas Texas and Florida each reported greater than 1,000 extra employees in 2023 than in 2022.
- Georgia, which had the biggest share lower in staffing from 2019 to 2023, has skilled sustained issues with jail deaths and violence that proceed as of 2025.
- North Carolina had the biggest drop in correctional employment from 2022 to 2023 — 18% in a single 12 months. WUNC interviewed the chief deputy secretary of operations on the state corrections company in 2024, citing a 40% emptiness price. In the identical 12 months, a author who has now been incarcerated for 23 years within the state mentioned, “I’ve by no means seen prisons this uncontrolled.”
- Louisiana adopted laws in 2024 that eliminates parole for most individuals transferring ahead, one thing that’s prone to improve the jail inhabitants. After vital losses through the pandemic, Louisiana noticed a rise in jail staffing from 2022 to 2023, however staffing was nonetheless 8% decrease than 2019 ranges. On the identical time, pay elevated per full-time worker by 32% from 2019 to 2023.
- In recent times, West Virginia (which has seen one of many bigger % decreases since 2019), Florida (which added over 1,000 corrections workers from 2022 to 2023) and New Hampshire (which had a five-year lower of about 11%) have known as within the Nationwide Guard to help their jail operations. How did officers justify that method? What’s being finished in these states to scale back their reliance on utilizing the Nationwide Guard as jail workers sooner or later?
- Whereas half of all states elevated their jail staffing from 2022 to 2023, the decline in New York continued with a lack of 4% 12 months over 12 months. In early 2025, guards went on an unauthorized strike citing understaffing, security and pay as main issues.
- Missouri is among the many backside 5 states for pay per worker and noticed one of many largest drops in general employment — 18% — from 2019 to 2023. Nonetheless, the state elevated pay per worker by 38% in that point, one of many largest will increase within the nation, and noticed a slight improve in employment from 2022 to 2023.
- Ohio, which ranked within the prime 10 for general jail employment, was in the midst of the pack for losses with a lack of about 10% from 2019 to 2023. Pay per worker elevated about 26%, which can be roughly within the center amongst US states.
- Mississippi has the bottom pay per correctional workers within the nation. The state noticed a small drop in employment of 1% from 2019 to 2023, principally because of one of many highest will increase in staffing (10%) from 2022 to 2023.
- A number of states had negligible losses or small features in staffing from 2019 to 2023 – Iowa, Alaska, Washington, Utah, Nebraska, Mississippi, North Dakota, Idaho, Rhode Island, and Hawaii.
Embed charts for each state
Right here is code that may be copied and pasted into most net content material administration methods to show the developments in corrections staffing in your state from 2003 to 2023.
Professional sources
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Kelli Canada, College of Missouri, affiliate director of analysis and affiliate professor: Canada and her crew developed the Missouri Innovation Community, a mannequin that “introduced collectively workers members and jail residents to debate and implement methods to enhance situations.” She will converse to how jail workers shortages impression jail tradition and local weather. E-mail: canadake@missouri.edu
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Brian Dawe, One Voice United, nationwide director: Dawe runs the advocacy group for correctional officers that describes itself as “a conduit for correctional officers and workers to boost problems with concern and voice their opinions.”
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Shannon Heffernan, The Marshall Mission, workers author. Heffernan reviews on jail situations and the experiences of the incarcerated, their households and corrections officers, amongst different legal justice subjects. She beforehand coated Illinois prisons for 15 years whereas reporting for WBEZ. E-mail: sheffernan@themarshallproject.org
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Terrica Redfield Ganzy, Southern Heart for Human Rights (SCHR), govt director. Ganzy has over 20 years of litigation, advocacy and instructing expertise concerning a variety of points associated to the legal authorized system, notably within the South. She will converse to issues associated to indigent protection, racial inequity, jail and jail situations, criminalization of poverty, the demise penalty, and coaching requirements for attorneys dealing with capital instances. E-mail: tganzy@schr.org
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Alan Mills, Uptown Folks’s Legislation Heart, of counsel lawyer and former govt director. UPLC is a community-based authorized clinic that advocates for incarcerated individuals in Illinois, in addition to poor and uncared for individuals in Chicago. Mills can converse to the impacts of correctional officer staffing shortages in prisons, in addition to shortages of non-CO personnel equivalent to medical and psychological well being workers. E-mail: alan@uplcchicago.org
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Nicole Schult, Uptown Folks’s Legislation Heart, authorized director. Schult works on UPLC’s incarcerated individuals’s rights instances, together with all the group’s class motion instances. E-mail: nicole@uplcchicago.org
Use this illustration
You’re welcome to republish the offered illustration inside any tales derived from the supplies on this toolkit, together with any associated social media and e-newsletter promotion of these tales. Dion MBD have to be credited in all makes use of and you may study extra in regards to the illustrator right here. The illustration shouldn’t be printed in unrelated tales. The illustration shouldn’t be cropped or altered in any means. Please e-mail us with any questions.
Sourcing issues
Tales about staffing declines in jail profit from a mixture of sources. Incarcerated individuals and their households may also help distill the hurt of declining workers and overpopulation in prisons. Institutional sources equivalent to jail union representatives and jail officers can make clear the coverage failures that led to a decline in staffing, whereas additionally exposing the results for individuals employed within the amenities.
Reaching institutional sources
Workers who’re presently employed in a jail are sometimes barred from giving interviews with out approval from the administration. These interviews could also be obligatory and even fruitful. However to get a extra nuanced image, you’ll wish to attain officers who can converse overtly. We suggest a number of approaches.
Contact your native officers’ union. Many states have an official union that represents corrections officers. To study extra in regards to the union in your state, you’ll be able to learn trade reporting by Corrections1 or go to our correction officer union tag web page in The Report.
Request the workers listing. One other solution to discover jail staff is to formally request the workers listing and cold-call individuals. Nonetheless, ready on a information request will be time-consuming and there’s no assure individuals will converse with you. If speaking with former workers can be helpful, you might be able to request a listing of workers who just lately vacated their positions.
Use LinkedIn. If you’re wanting into a selected jail, search for officers on LinkedIn utilizing the jail title. We now have discovered that these sources are sometimes higher-ranking than the workers who work immediately with incarcerated individuals. Nonetheless, these interviews will be illuminating. Should you discover previous staff, that may be helpful, too, as they could have extra latitude to present an official interview.
Reaching incarcerated individuals
The Marshall Mission is in contact with incarcerated sources across the nation. In some instances, we might be able to join you to somebody behind bars in your state. Please attain out to our engagement editor, Nicole Lewis, if you’re inquisitive about being related to an incarcerated supply.
There are some essential issues to contemplate when interviewing incarcerated individuals. For starters, individuals in jail can generally face penalties for chatting with the press. Earlier than you attain out, learn the entries on knowledgeable consent, people-first language and constructing belief on our sources web page.
Household first. Relations of the incarcerated will be nice sources of details about jail situations. They’ll additionally assist you join immediately with their family members behind bars. We suggest looking for member of the family Fb teams in your state, utilizing names of particular prisons. Many of those teams are non-public, however you’ll be able to good friend and message the moderators and allow them to know what you’re in search of.
Seek the advice of the lawsuits. Generally lawsuits about hurt because of declining staffing make their solution to courtroom. You’ll find federal lawsuits in your state through the use of PACER and CourtListener to search for individuals who have sued over this concern. You may also attain out to native civil rights attorneys or advocacy teams and see in the event that they’ll join you to their shoppers in jail.
Join with individuals coming residence. Folks coming residence from jail are sometimes capable of converse extra freely than individuals behind bars. Contemplate reaching out to reentry amenities close to you to see if workers would join you to somebody who was just lately launched. Some states publish lists of parolees, which may present a superb start line for figuring out individuals to interview or converse with.
Join with related organizations
As you assume by way of your reporting plan, here’s a listing of organizations that may assist add nationwide context to your story and might be able to assist you connect with skilled sources in addition to sources who’re or have been incarcerated.
- If you wish to join with attorneys engaged on enhancing jail situations, or study extra about ongoing human rights lawsuits behind bars, contact the ACLU Nationwide Jail Mission.
- Contemplate reaching out to the Nationwide Institute of Corrections to talk with jail workers and administrative officers to study extra about jail coverage and coaching.
- For information and analysis on prisons in your state, you’ll be able to contact the Vera Institute of Justice.
Type and requirements steerage
Listed below are a few the thorny points that might come up through the reporting course of, and steerage on how one can resolve them:
Advanced options. Understaffing in prisons is a systemic concern that doesn’t have a simple resolution. Your reporting based mostly on talking with official sources, advocates in your state and other people behind bars will reveal the angle to your story. These items are at their finest when exploring the nuances.
Folks-first language. Should you embody interviews with individuals in jail or workers working behind bars, please evaluation our sources web page, the place you will discover language and magnificence steerage.
Share your work
Thanks for utilizing this toolkit to create your individual native legal justice reporting! Please assist us monitor your work and doubtlessly share it in our e-newsletter by emailing us a hyperlink to your reporting.
Credit
REPORTING
Shannon Heffernan, Weihua Li
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Michelle Billman
EDITORIAL DIRECTION
Ruth Baldwin
DATA EDITING
David Eads, Aaron Sankin
ENGAGEMENT EDITING
Nicole Lewis
ILLUSTRATION
Dion MBD
ART DIRECTION
Raghuram Vadarevu
STYLE & STANDARDS
Ghazala Irshad
DEVELOPMENT
Ryan Murphy
AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
Ashley Dye, Rachel Kincaid
OUTREACH
Terri Troncale, Ruth Baldwin, Will Lager
EDITING
Tom Meagher
COPY EDITING
Ghazala Irshad, Kelsey Adams