DAVENPORT, Iowa — The Scott County Jail is nearing a correctional officer deficit.
The jail currently has 50 correctional officers. 48 is emergency status, which would move the jail from partial to full lockdown. The jail is budgeted for 64 correctional officers, but right now there are none in training — a process that takes three months.
On Tuesday, Feb. 13, Sheriff Tim Lane spoke at the Scott County committee of the whole meeting asking for salary increases for correctional officers to help attract and retain applicants.
"I believe that we can staff this jail," Lane said.
Because of low staffing, the jail does not have the employee capacity to host federal inmates. Lane says that generated $850,000 for the jail in 2016. Lack of staffing also means inmates are being sent to other county jails, costing Scott County nearly $1,500 a day.
"The hope is that I can bring the number of correctional officers up, I can bring the federal inmates back," Lane said. "We can generate enough revenue that we can continue to increase the wages of the correctional officers...keep them employed in the Scott County Jail and reduce the turnover."
For a year, beginning in August 2022, the jail offered correctional officers double pay for overtime. It's now time and a half.
"That is an emergency measure that has repercussions," Lane said. "When you're paying people all this money to work overtime, when you take it away from them, you're effectively giving them a pay cut."
The current starting salary for correctional officers in Scott County is $7 less than in Linn County, which has a similar-sized jail. There is no timeline for Scott County to act on this matter. Sheriff Lane is also looking at adjusting the pay scale to front-load bonuses, hopefully leading to higher retention.
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