A significant pay hike for new corrections officers at Upper Peninsula prisons won’t do enough to reverse severe staffing shortages that endanger both prison staff and inmates, advocates say.
A Northern Michigan Journalism Collaborative investigation this spring found Michigan’s UP prisons house about a quarter of the state’s inmates but record nearly three-quarters of assaults on prison staff. Former corrections officers say that’s because about one in three positions at UP prisons go unfilled, forcing corrections officers to work multiple 16-hour shifts a week. That pushes many officers to quit and leaves those who stay too burned out to effectively control inmates.
The Michigan Department of Corrections last week announced it will pay an additional $10,000 a year to officers starting at Marquette Branch Prison, Baraga Correctional Facility, Alger Correctional Facility, Kinross Correctional Facility and Chippewa Correctional Facility.
Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington said in a statement she’s “confident this incentive will be a strong tool for hiring in the Upper Peninsula regions where recruitment has historically been challenging.”
But some lawmakers and advocates quickly panned the announcement as doing too little.
“Frankly, it doesn't do anything to manage retention,” said state Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs, who has been one of the leading voices speaking out in Lansing about conditions at UP prisons. “Which is why we've been fighting to get the corrections officers added into the State Police pension fund … that's what takes this from a job to a career.”
A bill passed last legislative session that would allow corrections officers to join the State Police pension system was never sent to the governor for her signature. The bill is currently tied up in a legal battle among lawmakers.
In an emailed statement to IPR, MDOC Public Information Officer Jenni Riehle wrote that department leaders believe the change will improve retention by “decreasing the amount of mandatory overtime, allowing for better work/life balance, and creating safer facilities.
“Characterizing the department's staffing efforts solely through the lens of this initiative overlooks the extensive and aggressive work already underway across the correctional system,” Riehle said in the statement. “MDOC has made substantial investments of time, funding, and personnel resources to strengthen recruitment and retention through expanded academy capacity, streamlined hiring processes, targeted advertising campaigns, enhanced community engagement, employee referrals, [and] improved training opportunities.”
The Michigan corrections officers union, meanwhile, pushed back against the change, calling it an ineffective Band-Aid and an insult to officers at other understaffed facilities, according to the Detroit Free Press.
MDOC said officials will monitor the impact of the pay raise to see if the rate can be expanded to other hard-to-recruit facilities.
“The Michigan Corrections Organization is able to sign a letter of agreement to increase the wages of current employees at the designated facilities,” wrote Riehle, “but they have not done so.”
“We really need to take conditions for those who are already in the system seriously, or else we're just going to perpetuate the problem of people leaving these jobs,” said Damoose.
Other states have proven Damoose’s point. Wisconsin raised pay for corrections officers faster than Michigan and still struggled with retention.
The pay hike announcement comes just a few weeks after 30 members of the Legislature called for Washington’s resignation.
Staff starting out at five of the six UP prisons will now start at $28.24 an hour, up from $23.45, and that should help some, said Matthew Larson, a professor at Wayne State University who serves on Michigan’s Correctional Officers Training Council.
“We know increased pay can often move the needle,” he said.
“States that recently raised the pay of corrections officers saw meaningful jumps in applicants and lower short-term attrition, as well,” Larson said. “Florida just proposed a very similar $28 target this year for that very reason. So, I expect Michigan to see more applications.”
But, Larson said, rewarding new recruits without other efforts to improve conditions for those who already work at the prisons may backfire.
“Keep your eyes on the outcomes, not just the inputs,” Larson said. “Pay opens the door, but the job has to be worth staying in.”
The Michigan Corrections Organization, the union of the state’s correctional officers, is negotiating officers’ next wages in the 2026-27 state budget, but the state has made other efforts to improve pay for corrections officers.
State House Appropriations Committee Chairperson Ann Bollin wrote in an email to IPR that, last year, the state added $17.1 million to “help the Michigan Department of Corrections restructure its corrections officer pay.
“Under the current collective bargaining agreement, all pay steps received a 5% base-pay increase, and the first two steps of the pay schedule were eliminated, allowing officers to reach the highest pay level in three years instead of five,” wrote Bollin.
