The Delaware Department of Corrections is looking for $207.4 million for next year’s operations budget.
Department officials hope to use part of that money to balance staffing issue with overtime costs at state prisons.
Carl Danberg, Commissioner for the Department of Corrections, says the issue is a double-edged sword.
“Staff like[s] to work the overtime. They like the extra money in their pockets. But too much overtime and you get tired officers and tired correctional officers –tired people anywhere- they make mistakes. And in our business, mistakes can be very serious and life threatening,” said Danberg.
Danberg says his office receives nearly 1,000 resumes whenever they start accepting new applications for a position, which could happen next month or January.
Danberg also noted the number of inmates incarcerated throughout Delaware is on the rise and prisons are starting to feel the strain.
October population counts show state prisons housing nearly 18 hundred more higher-level offenders than the facilities’ were designed to hold.
“We’ve gone through the last several years where we’ve been able to reduce population. That turned around this year. With what is going on in our communities right now, I suspect the population will continue to climb unless we take steps to change that,” said Danberg.
Danberg points to Senate Bill 226 passed earlier this year, which assesses each prisoner’s risk level to the community and filters out those that could serve their terms under outside supervision.
Implementing that legislation is part of the department’s budget request for the next fiscal year.