The V.I. Bureau of Corrections continues to struggle with personnel and budget shortages but is working to meet the requirements of the consent decree it operates under and to provide Virgin Islanders with the protection they deserve, Corrections Director Julius Wilson told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday.
Wilson and many members of his bureau staff testified as part of the annual budget process.
The Senate is considering a $28.3 million budget proposal for the Bureau of Corrections, which breaks down to $11.8 million for personnel services; $4.6 million for fringe benefits; $1.4 million for supplies; $289,000 for "other services"; and $2.5 million for utilities
The utilities component caused comment among the lawmakers, as Sen. Nereida "Nellie" Rivera-O’Reilly pointed out that, as of June 30, the Bureau of Corrections had spent $1.4 million for electricity during the current fiscal year.
Wilson said the amount planned for next year includes $300,000 that the Bureau of Corrections still owes the V.I. Water and Power Authority for previous bills.
He also said energy auditors have begun working at the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility to find power savings.
As of Tuesday, the Bureau of Corrections was responsible for 555 people, Wilson said. There are 337 at Golden Grove on St. Croix; 104 divided between the Alexander A. Farrelly Justice Complex and the Alva A. Swan Annex on St. Thomas; 66 inmates housed off-island in Virginia; another 36 in Florida; and six inmates with mental health issues housed at a treatment center in California.
Wilson pointed out that the inmates housed off-island are actually far less expensive to the territory than those housed in the bureau’s facilities. The cost for an inmate held in the Virginia system is $82 a day and $67 a day in the Florida system. That’s cheapo compared to the cost of $146 a day to house one inmate in the territory, the director said.
"It’s because of what they’re paying for electricity and what they’re paying for medical care," Wilson said. “Those are the biggest drivers on cost.”
To monitor those prisoners, the bureau has 83 corrections officers on St. Croix and another 46 on St. Thomas, plus various support staff, including cooks, secretaries, nurses and a newly hired psychiatrist.
Their daily routine, Wilson said, includes preparing 24,000 meals a week, holding sick call five days a week, supervising inmates working in the facilities, conducting five daily prisoner head counts and filing incident reports.
"We receive detainees 24 hours a day," he continued. Those newcomers have to receive a medical screening, have a file started that includes medical, mental and dental records, along with notes about possible gang affiliation, which will affect housing.
The facility’s education center and library are open weekdays. The chapel, laundry and kitchen are open seven days a week.
And officers must manage the inmates without the use of guns, Wilson added, using only their "command presence" to keep order in a volatile situation.
The system is challenged by low staffing levels – with retirements, resignations and terminations outpacing recruiting, Wilson said. While the system is constantly recruiting new officers, there is a high failure rate in the candidates when they are tested and have background checks run.
It doesn’t help that the pay for corrections officers has been notoriously low, and Wilson told the senators that the money has simply not been available to make pay rates more competitive. This has led to low morale and adds to security problems, he said.
In the meantime, Wilson continued, the bureau is working under a consent decree that requires additional staff and training, among many things.
"We continue to work with the staff at hand toward compliance. Strides are being made," he said.
