U.P. lawmakers make demands after prison guards sound alarm on U.P. max-security prisons, statewide facilities

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) — Unionized prison guards with the Michigan Corrections Organization have caught the attention of legislators in the Upper Peninsula as they sound the alarm on what they are calling an unaddressed staffing crisis statewide.

On Tuesday, State Sen. Ed McBroom along with State Reps. Dave Prestin and Greg Markkanen criticized the job performance of Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington and called for urgent attention.

In the past month, the MCO has released several reports, updates and an open letter to Governor Whitmer.

A rare look inside U.P. max-security prisons, others in state

According to one MCO report, 13 of the state’s 26 prisons have staffing vacancies over 18%. Of those, five have vacancies in excess of 30%, and yet another is operating with 40% of its necessary staff positions vacant.

The Upper Peninsula is host to five of those 26 prisons statewide. According to MCO data, the Marquette and Baraga maximum-security facilities are both operating with over 30% fewer staff members than needed.

“Corrections officers cannot continue at this pace,” said Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock.

This, nearly a month after MCO President Byron Osborn sent a letter to Governor Gretchen Whitmer asking for help from the National Guard to alleviate conditions that are causing corrections workers to “suffer unlike any other state employees ever have in the history of Michigan.”

They are STILL being forced to work exhausting, demoralizing numbers of mandatory 16-hour overtime shifts per week. They are not being allowed to have a normal, healthy life with their families. None of your other state employees are being subjected to these conditions.

Corrections officers are STILL being forced to run prison operations with far less than the required number of officers, resulting in unsafe prisoner to officer ratios. Officers are forced to work alone in isolated areas, jeopardizing not only their safety but that of the prisoners. Contrary to what is commonly conveyed to the public, the state prisons are not pleasant facilities filled with well-treated officers that are churning out rehabilitated prisoners.

MCO President Byron Osborn, in letter to Gov. Whitmer

Osborn said in a release last week that the letter had been unanswered. MCO Vice President Cary Johnson criticized the silence, saying, “we believe that if it was the staff in her office that were being forced to work mandatory 16 hour shifts in unsafe conditions, there would be action taken to resolve the problem. These working conditions are dangerous and unacceptable.”

That release also sounded the alarm on an upcoming series of reports showing “what’s really happening inside the facilities,” that would be distributed to legislators and the public.

So far, reports have been released on the Marquette Branch Prison and Baraga Correctional Facility . Both reports show staffing vacancies in excess of 30% in July. In Marquette from July 1-28, they say this resulted in 785 overtime shifts for prison guards, with 88 breaking the “32-hour rule,” which is meant to protect guards from excessive overtime.

In Baraga, the MCO says guards there worked 544 overtime shifts from July 1-18, with 135 of those breaking the 32-hour rule.

Subject to operational needs, an employee will not be required to work mandatory overtime within the 32-hour period following the beginning of the last overtime shift of more than four hours the employee worked (two hours for employees assigned to 12-hour shifts). The employee must notify the scheduling supervisor if they qualify for this exemption.

Definition of 32-hour rule from MDOC memo

The reports also share logged incidents at the prisons. The Marquette report makes note of 17 fights between prisoners that were broken up—with one seeing the use of a stun gun, and the other the firing of a warning shot.

“The warning shot had no effect on the prisoners and the fight turned into an assault. Officers responded to stop the incident and restrain the prisoners,” reads the details on that incident.

Multiple prisoner-started fires were also reported—a possible trend that we have been working to learn more about since a larger incident was reported in March.

The Baraga report highlights similar incidents, with one detailing what happened after two guards responded to a call of two prisoners assaulting a third. “When they arrived, the 2 prisoners began punching and kicking the officers, resulting in injury. Tear gas and tasers were used to stop the assault and the facility went on lockdown. The 2 officers were sent to the hospital,” read the report.

We have shared the full MCO reports for the Marquette Branch Prison and Baraga Correctional Facility .

State legislators call for urgent change

On Tuesday, U.P. legislators State Sen. Ed McBroom joined state Reps. Dave Prestin and Greg Markkanen called for urgent attention to the problems caused by staffing problems at the prisons.

“Director Washington has failed to fix or even address the damning staffing shortages within our prisons,” said Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township. “I have been warning the state for more than 10 years about the dangers of administration policies that are making our prisons more dangerous for both prisoners and state employees.”

State Rep. Markkanen said, “five years ago, an internal survey revealed 140 corrections officers were actively planning to commit suicide. These officers go toe-to-toe with dangerous criminals every day. Yet, our corrections officers remain wildly understaffed, underpaid, and unappreciated by the administration.”

One possible solution was posed by State Rep. Dave Prestin, R-Cedar River, who said adjusting pay for prison guards could have a significant impact. “Raising wages is key to solving the staffing shortage,” said Prestin. “In Menominee County, we saw that the higher wages helped bring in more corrections officers and retain the officers we had. It’s cheaper too, since retention helps reduce the excessive amount of training costs and reducing the amount of mandatory overtime saves money and provides officers with a better work-life balance.”

Prestin said he believed compared to other methods, a wage increase would be the most effective. “This plan worked for Menominee County, and it can work on a larger scale.”

Local 3 reached out to a spokesperson with the Michigan Department of Corrections for comment, who responded Wednesday afternoon:

The Michigan Department of Corrections appreciates the hard work of our staff at facilities around the state, as well as the efforts of those who are actively recruiting in their communities. The department has established itself as a national leader in effective programming, education, and supervision for those in the criminal justice system. The department’s results are clear, as Michigan achieved the second lowest recidivism rate in our state’s history.

The Department of Corrections continues to focus on long-term solutions to its staffing challenges, including increasing maximum pay by over $12,000 per year for corrections officers since 2019, roughly $55M in recruitment and retention bonuses over the last 3 years, and a year-round recruiting campaign for new officers. A Corrections Officer Academy recently started, with 187 new officer recruits and the MDOC is actively recruiting for the next academy, which is scheduled to begin in October.

MDOC spokesperson

Back in June , the MDOC exhibited efforts to alleviate effects of the staffing shortage by reorganizing the number of beds and units between prisons in the state.

In that story, we quoted Heidi Washington, Director of the Michigan Department of Corrections addressed the staffing problem, saying, “the changes announced today will provide relief to the staff at the Baraga Correctional Facility, which currently faces a significant amount of overtime due to vacancies.”

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