Staffing shortage prompts Tehama County to close portion of its jail
Another North State county has been forced to close a portion of its jail because it can’t keep it staffed.
Three housing units in the Tehama County Jail have closed over the past two months, the sheriff’s office announced this week.
Twenty of the 33 correctional officer positions in the jail and Day Reporting Center are vacant, Capt. Dave Kain said.
Kain said the low staffing levels means the jail cannot be safely managed, so the three housing units, or 41 beds in the 227-bed jail, are no longer available for use.
“So, it’s gotten to the point where we basically are having mandatory overtime for our staff. Also, the current lieutenant who runs the jail works multiple overtime shifts to fill in so that we have the appropriate staffing,” Kain said.
In addition to closing the three housing units, the sheriff’s office is operating the remaining nine housing units at reduced capacity to ensure a safer environment for jail employees and inmates, Kain said.
What Kain has described mirrors the challenges Shasta County is having keeping its jail fully staffed.
Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson closed two floors in the jail in late July as staffing shortages reached a critical stage. Johnson told county supervisors a week after closing the floors that a recent survey of jail employees revealed they are burned out and morale is low.
Johnson has said that he is working on a package of pay increases and bonuses to offer jail employees to help with retention, which he said is the biggest challenge facing the jail.
This all comes as Shasta County moves forward with plans to build a bigger, new jail that could cost more than $500 million. The current jail in downtown Redding opened in 1984.
Some have wondered the value of more jail beds if the sheriff’s office doesn’t have the manpower to staff a larger facility.
Meanwhile, Kain said their main challenge is Tehama lags other counties in the area – Shasta, Butte, Yuba, Colusa, Glenn and Humboldt – in pay and benefits for correctional officers.
“Therefore, it is very difficult to retain employees when they can just leave and go to any adjacent county and make substantially more,” he said.
Kain did not specifically know how far behind other counties Tehama is in jail pay, but he noted the county is working on a salary survey to establish that.
“The sheriff’s office is hopeful that with the compensation and salary survey the county is doing that we find the appropriate pay for these positions and they (supervisors) can institute that,” he added.
The Tehama County jail was built in 1974 and an addition was built in 1994. Kain said the county has been working on another jail expansion for many years and "we are getting closer to breaking ground."
David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Staffing shortage prompts Tehama County to close portion of its jail
