Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman is asking the Champaign County Board for help in staffing the Champaign County jail.
In a letter to the county board, Heuerman said the correction division is “experiencing critical levels of staffing in the jails.”
“We have seen an increase in employee turnover in multiple divisions at the Sheriff’s Office, but none as concerning as we are currently seeing in corrections,” Heuerman wrote. “This turnover is due to multiple circumstances aggravated by COVID protocols, including current criminal justice climate, pay, seeking alternative employment goals, and mental/physical safety concerns (many of the inmates currently in the jails are accused of violent crimes and/or have mental health issues). Many of these things are out of our control.”
By the end of July, the corrections division will be short 10 correctional officers. The Champaign County board currently has two correctional officer candidates, but Heuerman said the process from interview to officer is approximately five months, not including time in the training academy.
The letter cites working and living conditions in the downtown jail where an “inmate had smeared feces all over his cell,” and an “inmate yelled and kicked his cell door for hours at a time.” Heuerman said that two correctional officers have been attacked by inmates at the downtown jail within the last year, and when doors at the downtown jail became unexpectedly unsecured, officers kept inmates from escaping.
“Overtime for officers is at an all-time high, resulting in increased stress, decreased mental health, and increased opportunity for mistakes to be made in operations – mistakes that could lead to lawsuits, or worse, injury to staff and inmates,” Heuerman stated. “We are at the point of exploring using other Sheriff’s Office divisions, including the patrol division, to fulfill our legally obligated responsibilities of the corrections division. This, in turn, could jeopardize the work of the other divisions, potentially jeopardizing public safety in our county. We are left with few other options.”
Sixty inmates will be moved to Ogle County, Ill. in Sept. as the correctional facility undergoes an HVAC project at the Satellite jail. The county will accrue a $69,300 bill in the three weeks inmates are there.
Heuerman said due to staff issues, he doesn’t believe those inmates can be brought back to Champaign County. He estimates that will cost Champaign County $99,000/month.
“We also must consider the costs of transporting these inmates to and from court hearings and appointments and the distance housed away from relatives,” he wrote.”In my opinion, as both your Sheriff and a taxpayer in Champaign County, this is not the best way to be spending county resources but there may be no alternative.”
Heuerman also noted that inmates have voiced intentions of filing grievances and civil lawsuits against the county if conditions at the downtown jail aren’t improved.
“These are legitimate concerns and those of you who were brave enough to tour the downtown jail have seen this firsthand. Maintaining safety and security at the downtown jail is getting increasingly expensive to keep at even minimum standards,” he said.
The sheriff who was elected in 2018 asked the County Board to consider “support for the employees who work for Champaign County as well as your commitment to providing safe and adequate facilities for both those employees and inmates in custody” by enacting a sign-on bonus that would include $5,000 for new correctional officers — $2,500 upon successful completion of field training and $2,500 after fulfilling their three-year contract with the Sheriff’s Office.
He also asked for a firm commitment and a realistic timeline to closing the downtown jail and taking time to look at Champaign County correctional officers’ salaries.
According to the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office Recruiting information, probationary corrections officers make $42,452.80 per year or $20.41 hourly. That pay increases to $23.84 hourly or $49,587.20 annually with five years; $26.07 hourly or $54,246.40 annually with 10 years; and $31.02 hourly or $64,521.60 annually with 20 years.
To learn more about becoming a correctional officer with the Champaign County Sheriff’s office, visit http://www.co.champaign.il.us/sheriff/applicanttesting.php.
