Senate panel advances McKee’s pick to permanently lead R.I. Department of Corrections

Interim Rhode Island Department of Corrections Director Wayne Salisbury, Jr. testifies before the Senate Committee on Judiciary on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. Salisbury has served as interim director since January 2023. He was tapped by Gov. Dan McKee in May to lead the state's prisons on a permanent basis. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

Despite alleged ethics violations by the state correctional officers union, the Senate Committee on Judiciary voted 10-1 Tuesday to advance Gov. Dan McKee’s nomination of Wayne T. Salisbury, Jr. as permanent director for the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC).

Salisbury, whose fiscal year 2024 salary was $150,930 , has served as acting director of the department since January 2023, following the departure of Patricia Coyne-Fague. He was hired at RIDOC in 2016 as deputy warden and was named deputy director in November 2020, according to his resume . He served as acting warden from March 2017 to February 2018.

“I have grown to appreciate the great history and complexities of this storied organization,” he told the committee,” Salisbury told the committee. “In corrections, we are faced with a myriad of complex, nuanced matters that must be addressed thoroughly and collaboratively to ensure the safety of our staff and those who are entrusted to our care.”

Sen. Leonidas Raptakis, a Coventry Democrat, cast the lone vote against Salisbury’s nomination. The full Senate is expected to take up the confirmation vote Thursday, said spokesperson Greg Paré.

Union ramps up opposition

If approved, Salisbury pledged to make transparency the centerpiece of his administration at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston.

“At this time, when change is taking place, it is important that our staff, the legislature and the public know our intentions and our plans to move forward,” he said.

But the Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers, which blasted Salisbury’s nomination even before it was announced in May, claims Salisbury has been anything but transparent.

The union on Monday filed a pair of complaints against Salisbury with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission alleging nepotism and omission of required, out-of-state trips on Salisbury’s annual financial statement to the state ethics panel.

“Wayne Salisbury’s past should have disqualified him from ever holding a position of this importance in the first place,” Richard Ferruccio, union president, said during the confirmation hearing.

Correctional officers union opposes McKee’s nomination of interim director for permanent job

The first complaint is based on Salisbury’s  stepdaughter, Amanda Novo, getting a job at RIDOC in probation and parole, according to Ferruccio. A copy of the complaint was not immediately available.

RIDOC spokesperson J.R. Ventura said in an email Tuesday afternoon that Salisbury was not involved in Novo’s hiring, nor did she directly report to him. Novo also no longer works for the state, Ventura said.

The union also accused Salisbury of failing to disclose multiple out-of-state trips funded by third-party organizations to places like London — something that was first reported by WPRI-12 on June 6. Under state law , government officials must report compensated out-of-state trips worth more than $250 that are paid for based on their public position.

Ventura said the trip to the U.K. “was at no cost to RI taxpayers as it was paid in full by the British Consulate.” He did not speak on the other trips mentioned in the union’s complaint.

“It is in Rhode Island’s best interest for RIDOC’s leadership to maintain the Department’s ongoing presence at these conferences and trainings with fellow Directors and Commissioners from around the country to understand, discuss, and bring best practices to the Rhode Island Department of Corrections,” Ventura said.

Upon receiving clarification and guidance from the Ethics Commission, Salisbury updated his disclosure form .

“I was thoroughly embarrassed when I got the call and needed to report that on my ethics form,” he told the Senate committee.

The cost of the London trip is not included on the updated financial statement, and is still being determined, Ventura said.

Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for McKee’s office, did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the ethics complaints on Tuesday.

The state ethics panel has not held a meeting since the complaints were filed. It can decide to investigate the allegations, if warranted, with the potential for up to $25,000 in resulting fines, or dismiss the complaints altogether.

Advocates praise Salisbury for vision, leadership

In stark contrast to the union critics, prison advocacy groups have thrown their weight behind Salisbury.

“We believe that Interim Director Wayne Salisbury has demonstrated leadership, dedication, and commitment to improving the corrections system in Rhode Island,” Stop Torture R.I. Coalition campaign manager Brandon Robinson wrote in a letter signed by nine other groups Monday. “His vision for a safer and more rehabilitative environment aligns with our values and goals for a fair and effective corrections system.”

James Monteiro, founder of the Providence-based Reentry Campus Program , called Salisbury “an integral piece” to reducing recidivism in Rhode Island’s prisons.

“I see balance,” Monteiro said during Tuesday’s hearing. “That’s what we really want in a director — someone who understands corrections, someone who understands safety.”

Lawmakers peppered Salisbury with questions during the Tuesday hearing, including over the department’s decision last year to limit disciplinary confinement to a maximum of 30 days . Ferruccio previously blamed the policy change for creating the unsafe conditions at the state prison.

Salisbury acknowledged there was a spike in incidents following the change, but said problems have “since leveled off.”

“With that, it is a correctional facility,” he said, noting there are six facilities at the ACI. “When incidents happen, we need to look at facilities separately and not look at the entire organization and kind of lump those together.”

Sen. David Tikoian, a Smithfield Democrat, questioned how Salisbury intends to maintain a professional relationship with the correctional officers union.

Salisbury’s response: “We don’t always have to see eye-to-eye, but we do have to compromise.”

If his nomination is approved, Salisbury will earn a $174,593 annual salary based on cabinet raises pitched by McKee, which took effect in May.

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