Share:
House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 16, 2024 11:33 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Clint Owlett |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | No Residency Requirement for Correction Officers |
| If you take the time to visit any of our SCI facilities, you will meet the hard-working men and women doing their absolute best to secure the facilities and serve the Commonwealth. What I learned on my trip to SCI Dallas back in December is that there just are not enough corrections officers available. This has led to a huge increase in overtime and a likely supplemental need in this year's budget. More concerning than the funding is these officers are being overworked, which is not in their best interest or ours. While a number of our SCIs are situated in close proximity to other states, including SCI Somerset, SCI Chester, SCI Waymart and SCI Phoenix, I was surprised to learn the Department of Corrections is currently prohibited under current law from hiring corrections officers who reside in other states. This just makes no sense at all, and I believe needs to change. To help expand the pool of applicants and ensure our prisons are sufficiently staffed to protect inmates, staff and the community, I intend to introduce legislation that simply provides opportunity for corrections officers at a state correctional institution may reside outside of this Commonwealth. Limiting the ability to hire qualified workers just because of where they live would never work in business and it’s not working for the Commonwealth. This commonsense legislation is necessary to ensure that the security of our prisons is not compromised and to ensure we are not burning out our current officers. Please join me in cosponsoring this legislation to better protect our Commonwealth. |
Introduced as HB1968