May 31, 2024 By Amy Fauth 3 min read

Staffing and retention issues at the Fayette County jail prompted several correctional officers and their union president to attend and speak on the status of wage increases at Wednesday’s prison board meeting.

Chase Rutherford, president of the UMWA Local 9113, which represents correctional officers at the lockup, said in the past they were directed to speak with Sam Lynch, the county’s former financial consultant from The Susquehanna Group. However, he said, Lynch will no longer be working for the county, and union members are looking for guidance on how to proceed.

“We’re willing to do what we can to help progress this along,” said Rutherford, who indicated wage discussions have been ongoing for about one year.

Rutherford said he sent county commissioners a cost analysis to get things started, but has had no updates about where things stand.

Citing a job search found online, Rutherford told prison board members that new, full-time correctional officers at the smaller Greene County jail start at $17.75 per hour.

But, he said, “Their whole jail holds what we hold on one pod.”

New part-time hires ratified at Wednesday’s prison board meeting had a starting rate of $16.40 per hour, while full-time hires received $18.45 per hour.

With more retirements coming and few applications for open positions, Rutherford expressed concern and advocated for a $4 hourly wage increase to entice applicants.

The raise, he said, would save the county money in overtime wages incurred to keep the jail adequately staffed.

Another issue with staffing, according to Rutherford, is that some of the part-time hires are only in it for a short time.

“Here’s the problem, we’re getting guys and then two weeks later they are going to state (prisons).”

Commissioner Scott Dunn said the commissioners will need to get up to speed with where things were when Lynch left.

“I will say we’ll find out where Sam stood on this because Sam was instructed by the commissioners to work with you on April 15. I don’t know what’s transpired between you and Sam,” said Dunn.

Rutherford, meanwhile, said Lynch told him the commissioners offered no instructions about how to proceed.

This week, The Susquehanna Group that Lynch works for gave the county a two-week notice indicating the agency was terminating its contract.

The move comes two months after the commissioners created a position for and hired an in-house financial director for the county, meant to assume many of the duties Lynch performed. At the time, the commissioners said they opted to hire a financial director to save money, noting Lynch was paid $234 hourly and in 2023 received $485,244. The financial director’s position came with an annual salary of $66,904.

However, that candidate hired to oversee the county’s finances declined the job after her hiring, and the position remains vacant.

According to Rutherford, the jail guards aren’t asking for anything more than what they feel they deserve for sticking it out despite receiving lower wages than their colleagues at other county prisons.

“When I started there, we made more than Westmoreland or Washington. Now, they make $8 an hour more than us,” said Rutherford.

Dunn said the commissioners will work with the union to come to an agreement on wages.

“We haven’t forgotten about you. We’re trying to work through getting a new (financial director) on board…we will look at this,” he said.