Key GOP lawmaker calls on Michigan prisons head to resign over staffing concerns

Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington | Casey Hull

The ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday called on Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) Director Heidi Washington to resign, pointing to safety concerns created by a shortage of corrections officers. 

“The lack of effective leadership is directly undermining the mental health and wellbeing of those who put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe. Our officers, and our state, deserve better. It is time for Director Washington to resign,” said state Rep. Sarah Lightner (R-Springport) in a statement.

The Michigan Corrections Organization (MCO), the union representing Michigan corrections workers, has raised numerous concerns about staffing in recent years, pointing to dangerous working conditions including unsafe prisoner-to-officer ratios and “demoralizing” mandatory overtime requirements.

According to an analysis from the nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency, the total number of corrections officers has decreased since 2019, when the state employed 6,070 total corrections officers. As of the end of June, MDOC employed 4,632 active corrections officers, corrections transportation officers and corrections medical officers across its 26 facilities, which house 32,984 prisoners. 

“Despite the evident crisis, Director Washington has failed to implement a plan to address the critical staffing shortages, which has resulted in severe low morale, depression, anxiety, and fear among our dedicated corrections officers,” Lightner said in a statement. 

Washington has served as MDOC director since July of 2015, when she was appointed under Republican former Gov. Rick Snyder. Washington was the only carryover from Snyder’s cabinet, with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reappointing her to the position in 2019. 

Both the House and Senate are controlled by Democrats.

On July 3, the MCO sent a letter to Whitmer requesting National Guard support while working directly with the organization to find permanent relief to staffing concerns. 

“Governor Whitmer, your state corrections officers in the Michigan Department of Corrections need you to take immediate action to address the dangerous working conditions that have persisted and worsened throughout your time as governor,” MCO President Byron Osborn wrote in the letter. 

“Under your watch, state corrections officers continue to suffer unlike any other state employees ever have in the history of Michigan. They are STILL being forced to work exhausting, demoralizing numbers of mandatory 16-hour overtime shifts per week,” Osborn wrote “They are not being allowed to have a normal, healthy life with their families. None of your other state employees are being subjected to these conditions.”

Osborn also said the lack of corrections officers has resulted in unsafe prisoner-to-officer ratios, with officers being forced to work alone in isolated areas jeopardizing their safety and the safety of their prisoners. 

“The state prisons are not pleasant facilities filled with well treated officers that are churning out rehabilitated prisoners. The state prisons are STILL dangerous facilities that are only about two-thirds full of exhausted officers that are dealing with a gang-riddled prisoner population that has taken advantage of lax MDOC policies on prisoner discipline, classification, and use of segregation,” Osborn wrote. “The only people happy with the current conditions in the prisons are the prisoners, they’re being coddled at the expense of officer safety.”

The governor’s office did not respond to an inquiry as to whether Whitmer had responded to the letter. 

In a statement, Washington responded to staffing concerns, acknowledging several years of staffing challenges and thanking its staff for working high levels of voluntary and mandatory overtime.

Over this period the department has focused on recruitment and retention efforts, including advertising positions, holding hiring events and hosting four corrections officers academies each year. The state has also negotiated raises totaling 18% since 2020, Washington said, noting these efforts as a whole have helped some facilities achieve staffing stability. 

“As of the MDOC’s last report to the Legislature in April, the vacancy level at facilities ranged between 4.3% and 36.3% for officers. Half of the MDOC’s prisons are now operating with vacancies under 15% and 8 facilities have a vacancy rate at 5% or below,”  Washington said.

The department and other stakeholders need to remain focused on efforts to stabilize staffing in the long term, Washington said, including promoting benefits for the career. 

“These include having an active role in keeping their communities safe, serving in a role that can change lives, and the ability to reach annual maximum pay of $68,500 after just three and a half years of service as an Officer,” Washington said, noting the change would take effect Oct. 1. 

According to Lightner’s office, the Michigan Auditor General is currently conducting an investigation into staffing shortages and other alleged violations of federal and state labor regulations within the Michigan Department of Corrections, with Lightner sending a letter requesting a review in 2023. 

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