By Diane
Saunders, Staff Writer
Arizona penal
system officials are hoping the state Legislature will
take another funding step this year by increasing
salaries for state prison supervisors.
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Local state correctional
officers whose salaries are affected by
compression are Capt. Roxanne Hill, Sgt.
Frank Schabert and Lt. Moses Ochoa. All work
at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Safford.
Photo by
Diane Saunders |
Last year, the Legislature approved a new competitive
pay scale for corrections officers that has resulted in
attracting more officers to the prison system, but
resulted in many corrections officers earning more money
than their supervisors — sergeants, lieutenants and
captains.
Corrections officers receive annual “step” increases in
their salaries under the new pay scale. The raises
supervisors receive are smaller and, over time, do not
keep up with the raises received by corrections
officers, officials say.
That is why Arizona Department of Corrections Director
Dora Schriro and other corrections officials are asking
the Arizona Legislature to make the salary scale for
supervisors more competitive with other penal
institutions. Under the current system, many corrections
officers turn down promotions because they will make
less money as supervisors, said James O’Neil, special
assistant to Arizona Department of Corrections Director
Dora Schriro.
“The incentive to promote is not there,” he said.
Lt. Moses Ochoa, who oversees complex operations at the
Safford prison, said he oversees four sergeants — one of
whom makes more money than he does.
Roxanne Hill, a captain at the Safford prison, said many
of the supervisors stay on because money is not the only
factor in job satisfaction.
“If it was about money, we’d be working at the federal
prison,” Hill said.
Ochoa agreed, saying for him the rewards for working as
a supervisor are not only monetary.
“You grow within yourself, too,” he said.
The ADOC offered the following statistics about
supervisors’ salaries:
A total of 65
percent of correctional officers — 3,696 of 5,672 — earn
more than correctional sergeants. Another 74
correctional officers earn more than lieutenants and
captains.
More than
half of the correctional sergeants — 334 of 633 — earn
more than lieutenants. Another 16 sergeants earn more
than captains.
Of the 256
correctional lieutenants, 103 earn more than
correctional captains.
