Corrections staff close to dangerously low, supt. tells commissioners

LACONIA — Staffing levels at the Belknap County Corrections facility have dropped to the point where the safety of the facility could be in jeopardy if they were to go any lower, the corrections superintendent has told county commissioners.

“Things are going well, but it’s precarious,” Superintendent Adam Cunningham told the commissioners on Monday.

Cunningham said four corrections officers have resigned recently. All are leaving to work in different fields. While one is leaving to take a dispatcher’s position with the sheriff’s department, most have left for the private sector, ranging from a job at a bank to being a fuel truck driver.

Cunningham said that if he loses two more corrections officers, then the facility will have the minimal staff of three officers on all shifts.

“We’re getting close to critical staffing level,” he said.

Cunningham said as more-seasoned officers quit, the experience level at the facility diminishes. Moreover, because of the limited staff remaining, it becomes harder to give the more junior officers the training they should have.

County Administrator Debra Shackett said the corrections officers who have left or are leaving are attracted by the prospect of easier work, jobs that involve less stress, and pay more money.

Corrections officers are paid between $20.03 and $29.56 an hour depending on their qualifications, Shackett said Thursday.

The department is currently staffed by 29 officers and supervisors, five people short of its allocation of 34. The department received funds in this year’s budget for an additional corrections officer, but has been unable to fill the position, according to Shackett.

County Commission Chair Peter Spanos said the commission needs to be prepared to take urgent action if staffing gets worse.

“If the situation becomes acute, then the commission will need to call an emergency meeting” to approve measures to get the staffing at the facility back to where it needs to be, Spanos said.

Spanos wondered if offering sign-on bonuses would attract applicants. Commissioner Glen Waring asked if requesting help from the National Guard might be a short-term solution.

He asked Cunningham to come back to the commission with some specific recommendations.

“We need to know what to do if the number of staff drops too low,” he said.

The National Guard has provided staffing help at the state prison in Concord on two occasions during the past two years, according to Lt. Col. Greg Heilshorn, the director of public affairs for the New Hampshire National Guard, but has not been asked to help with staff shortages at county corrections facilities.

Earlier this year the guard sent 29 soldiers — all trained military police — to the Concord prison for two months. They were assigned to provide perimeter security and help staff the control center. None had direct contact with inmates, Heilshorn said.