MARINETTE — The Marinette County Jail is in a “crisis situation” as it is short eight positions in a 25-person staff.
An amendment that allows corrections officers to keep their personal time in lieu of holiday pay was approved Tuesday by the Marinette County Board. Supervisors also voted to increase pay for corrections officers, as well as some other positions.
Both votes were 26-1 with Supervisor Allen England casting the opposing vote. Supervisors Jon Baumgarten, Gail Wanek and Roger Allen were excused.
Sheriff Randy Miller, Jail Administrator Bob Majewski and two civilian corrections officers spoke against taking away personal days and in favor of increased pay.
“We are finding it harder and harder to attract qualified candidates that are interested in doing this job for the wages that we are offering,” Miller said. “I’ve been in law enforcement 30 years (and) I can’t remember a time when we were faced with such a severe staffing shortage.”
Miller said he, Majewski, and deputies have filled in shifts at the jail to help with the shortage.
“It’s causing strain in the community, strain on road patrol,” Miller said. “This is simply not sustainable long-term.”
The sheriff said the starting pay for a Marinette County civilian corrections officer is $22.19 per hour, six dollars less per hour than Brown County.
“We are falling behind on wages compared to corrections officers in other counties and losing potential candidates to them,” Miller said.
“Nobody’s going to get rich doing this job,” he continued. “We’re not asking to be on the top; we don’t want to be on the bottom. I feel we have fallen behind the median.”
Corrections officers and other essential workers were getting an extra $2 per hour since 2020 as part of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds received during the COVID-19 pandemic. That ended last month.
The money was paid as a bonus every July as long as the officer remained employed at the jail. It was an incentive for that person to remain with the county.
With Tuesday’s vote, the starting wage for a CCO will jump to $25.03 per hour, beginning Jan. 1. Other officers will see more pay based on where they fall in the wage formula.
Besides the pay, Miller said the personal time off was important to the staff. He said corrections officers are exposed to critical incidents on a daily basis which leads to higher rates of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), divorce and other stress-related issues.
“For those reasons, I am not in favor of taking time off away from these individuals,” he said. “They are exposed to things that never leave them. They need time to recharge.”
Majewski said jails are the highest liability for a county. He pointed to a recent incident where four corrections officers saved an inmate from a suicide attempt. He called the current situation “a crisis” and a “recipe for disaster.”
“Thank God we have the officers that we do,” he said. “We have not had any major incidents.”
Majewski put the jail and its duties into perspective.
“The jail is a necessary evil and we contain evil,” he said. “That’s what we do.”
Corrections sergeant Jake Roberts said the plan would take away from quality time for officers.
“This proposal will dramatically decrease their time with family and increase their time spent with people that are at their lowest, people that are proven to be a danger to the public and society and have their freedoms restricted,” he said.
Corrections officer Faith Zebroski concurred.
“On a daily basis we are dealing with inmates that are mentally ill, addicted to drugs, suicidal, combative or just downright mean,” she explained. “Inmates fight, they smuggle drugs into the facility. … I’ve been screamed at. I’ve been spit at and attacked. I’ve been told that they will kill my family once they’re released. I’ve been told that they’re going to cut me open and rape me.
“This job isn’t easy. We come face-to-face with many situations that can cause great bodily harm.”
She said personal days give officers a time to reset.
Supervisor Tim Pelzek, a former police officer and firefighter in Milwaukee, said he received compensatory time that allowed him to see his children participate in sports.
“To be perfectly honest with you, I didn’t care if I had an extra 5, 10, 15, 20 dollars in my pocket, I wanted to see my children participate in sports activities,” he said. “That’s not something that you can ever get back. So I have a real deep feeling on this issue. I don’t want to see people lose their personal days”
Supervisor Jim Bird, a retired Marinette firefighter, also spoke in favor of personal time, something that was important to him when he was battling fires.
“I personally had mental health issues,” he said. “I would be surprised if the jail staff doesn’t have mental health issues at times. To say they need time off is an understatement.”
Supervisor Bonnie Popp asked if the county’s budget issue could be handled through employee attrition.
“The goal is attrition, but I don’t think that’s possible anymore,” County Administrator John Lefebvre said. “We’ll have to make it (the budget) work. We have to figure out where else to cut.”
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