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Raises proposed for corrections officers in budget
A.J. FLICK
Tucson Citizen

Corrections officers would get $41.7 million in salary increases, on top of a 7.5 percent state employee pay raise, under Gov. Janet Napolitano's proposed budget.

Arizona Department of Corrections officers would share $39.7 million while juvenile corrections officers would split $2.7 million.

The department has been using savings created by officer vacancies to fund overtime and stipends for officers working at outlying prisons, Director Dora Schriro said yesterday.

Juvenile corrections officers would get $3,000 more per officer in Napolitano's plan, meant to address the department's 37 percent turnover rate in 2005.

The proposal also includes $273,000 for special education testing that previously was funded by grants, said Juvenile Corrections Director Michael Branham. Forty-five percent of juvenile offenders have special education needs.



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