Testimony on the Budget of the
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

Tim Shafer
Corrections Assembly President
Ohio Civil Service Employees Association/AFSCME
April 19, 2007

Good day Chairman Dolan and members of the committee. My name is Tim Shafer; I am a Corrections Officer at the Pickaway Correctional Institution in Orient, Ohio.  I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you regarding the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections budget.  I have provided each of you with a copy of my testimony.

I am also the President of the Ohio Civil Service Employee Association’s Corrections Assembly.  As President of the Assembly I represent some 9,000 Corrections employees in the state of Ohio.

I would like to start with just a fast reminder of history in Ohio Corrections.  Fourteen years ago last week the 1993 Lucasville riot started.  For eleven days the Institution and the community were held hostage.  Corrections Officer Bobby Vallandingham was killed, as were several offenders. 

What did we learn from the riot?  We learned what we already knew.  Overcrowding and understaffing are a very dangerous mix.

Now, again, we find ourselves back in a very dangerous situation.  Today the prison population is rising faster than ever.  At the same time the number of Correction Officers and front line staff continue to decrease. As Representatives Patton, DeWine, and Hite can attest, currently what a Corrections Officer sees every day inside the fences in most of Ohio’s prisons is a 250 to 1 or 300 to 1 inmate-to-officer ratio. This rightfully raises concerns for staff, community and offender.  As in 1993, we again have too few eyes watching too many offenders.

Overcrowding is also a health and safety issue.  The cost of medical care and mental health care services is off the chart and the annual dollar amount can only be guessed.  Many offenders come to DR&C who have never seen a doctor before.  In addition, a surge of unanticipated dental and mental health costs have been triggered by the influx of inmates linked to meth amphetamines entering prison.

OCSEA has tried to play a positive role despite the growing problem.  OCSEA and DR&C continue to work together, to look for better ways and more efficient ways to do the business of Corrections.  Together we have both improved security and saved millions of taxpayers’ dollars. 

But Ohio’s justice and law enforcement systems are stretching the department’s capabilities too thin and I fear we are now at the breaking point. Regardless, no one currently expects the situation to improve on its own. Indeed, our prison population had now reached an all time high of over 49,000 and this number is expected to grow by 20% in 5 years and 37% in 10 years.

I understand that there is no easy solution. Any solution is going to have to address staffing, facilities, sentencing, health care costs and minimizing exposure to inmate lawsuits. These are all important concerns that must be addressed simultaneously.

In the past, well-intentioned state leaders tried to deal with these issues in a piecemeal fashion or without enough regard to all of the consequences of their decisions.  In the most recent budget crisis, for example, Rehab and Corrections took 60% of all staffing cuts in state services and was forced to close 2 prisons.  But these decisions only made matters worse for DR&C.

In the spirit of cooperation that I mentioned earlier, OCSEA and I would like to suggest that this body and the Governor’s office create a Blue Ribbon Commission to take a comprehensive look at the future for Corrections in Ohio.

The commission we have in mind would be an effective, efficient working committee that must be committed to action and helping DR&C accomplish the goals Corrections has in the most safe and efficient ways possible.

In general, we’d recommend that such a commission represent a cross section of experts and stakeholders. We particularly recommend a 10-member panel of the following composition:
- Four members of the Ohio General Assembly: one from each house and each party.
- Six governor appointments: a representative of the county sheriff’s; a retired judge; an academic corrections expert; a representative of the Ohio Sentencing Commission; a representative of community corrections; and – lastly – a representative of OCSEA.

It is our hope that this commission would really conduct a comprehensive review of all of the factors that are in play and meet as often as necessary. However, because of the strains we are already operating under, we’d urge such a commission to act in a responsible but expeditious manner and issue a preliminary report by the end of 2007 and a final report and recommendations no later than May 1, 2008, so that they can be integrated into the preparations for the budget cycle two years from now.

Chairman Dolan and members of the committee, I started off my testimony by recalling the 1993 prison riot. I now will close my remarks by noting that everyday nearly 10,000 corrections employees across the state perform a job that most Ohioans would decline, and they do it with professionalism.  The risk, however, gets greater with each passing day.  I urge you to act swiftly to prevent us from repeating the mistakes of recent history and demonstrate that we in Ohio have come a along way since the dark days at the Lucasville prison.

I thank you Chairman Dolan and committee members; I will answer any questions you may have at this time.