The Texas prison system needs to hire 4,300 more guards, which means that 17 percent of its fulltime security positions are unfilled. About one-in-five of the state’s 106 prisons operate with fewer than 75 percent of its correctional guards.

The Houston Chronicle reports that, “far-flung Fort Stockton, the worst-staffed unit, operates with 59 percent of its correctional officers. Barfoot’s lockup in Amarillo operates with 76 percent of it allotted guard positions.

The state’s inmate population had grown 5 percent to 153,00 since the day seven prisoners pulled off an escape at the Connolly Unit in South Texas in 2000, but, the prison system has 34 percent fewer guards.

Texas Prison board Chairman Brad Livingston testified before a legislative hearing last month and called the guard shortage “critical.” The prison board recently approved a 10 percent emergency raise for new employees, bringing starting salaries to $25,000 a year and a $1,500 signing bonus for those taking jobs at the most difficult to staff units in order to deal with the shortage.

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