The Jackson County jail is on a pace to lose a third of its staff this year, according to the director of Human Resources, Dennis Dumovich.
Dumovich says 119 jail staffers have already left the staff. The jail usually employees around 450 people, according to Dumovich.
He says low pay, long hours, mandatory overtime and tough working conditions make it hard to keep workers. Dumovich says this year, many new employees are quitting within the first 3 months on the job.
“We have to do in our training is give them a little more realistic job preview.
That’s something we’re working on, Dumovich said.
Dumovich says in October, the jail will launch a pilot project to improve the problems with long hours.
A small number of jail staffers will move to 12-hour workdays, four days a week.
Dumovich says they hope the longer weekend will help jail staffers recover frokm the stress of their jobs.
The Jackson County Jail task Force was launched after several inmates were beaten by guards earlier this year.
The FBI has been called into to look into complaints.
Earlier this year, one Jackson County Correction Officer was indicted by federal prosecutors for beating an inmate.