Supermax prison in Youngstown to abolish 22 jobs

Some union workers will be able to ‘bump’ and transfer to another facility.

staff/wire reports

YOUNGSTOWN — The Ohio State Penitentiary will abolish 22 jobs to help meet projected statewide budget constraints, said Warden David Bobby.

Posting of the jobs being abolished was done last week. Bobby said that, because of the union “bumping” process, not all 22 employees will lose their jobs; some will be able to transfer to other facilities. Corrections officers are not being cut, he said.

The support staff and supervisory positions being abolished affect 12 union and 10 nonunion employees at the supermax prison on Coitsville-Hubbard Road, the warden said. He said the savings had not yet been calculated.

Bobby said the process will begin in the next 30 days and likely won’t be finalized until July. Some positions may be divvied up among remaining workers, he said.

The supermax has 482 positions with 37 now vacant, Bobby said. The 22 will be cut from the current 445 jobs.

The warden said safety and security remain the prison’s No. 1 priority.

Last week, The Columbus Dispatch reported that 701 prison jobs will be cut because of the weak economy and an expected state budget shortfall. The figure includes 539 positions that will be abolished and 162 vacancies that will not be filled, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said. The job cuts are expected within 90 days.

The reduction represents nearly 5 percent of the agency’s 14,500 workers. Director Terry J. Collins said the agency decided not to close a prison because of the increasing inmate population, which reached a record 50,099 last week and is expected to hit 55,000 by 2010.

Collins said he’s confident that the cuts won’t compromise prison security or key agency programs.

The agency also is trying to save money through hiring and equipment-purchase controls, an early-retirement incentive and consolidation of some services at prisons near one another and in the central office, Collins told the Dispatch.

Gov. Ted Strickland has told all state agencies to make cuts without affecting critical services. The governor has called for cuts totaling $733 million.