June 01, 2023

Wyden, Merkley Push for Safe, Stable Staffing Levels at FCI Sheridan

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today urged federal officials to address understaffing and low pay at the federal correctional institution in Sheridan, Oregon. 

“In our discussions with prison staff and union representatives, they repeatedly raised concerns about low morale, high rates of attrition, and difficulties recruiting and retaining staff. We each discussed these issues with Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Colette Peters, who was familiar with them and vowed to correct them. To address these urgent staffing issues, BOP authorized a 25% retention bonus for all correctional staff as well as additional retention and relocation bonuses in January of this year. We urge the United States Department of Justice and Office of Personnel Management to quickly approve these important incentives,” Wyden and Merkley wrote to DOJ Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and OPM Director Kiran Ahuja. 

FCI Sheridan is a medium security federal prison with an adjacent minimum security prison camp and detention center. While the Sheridan prison is authorized to employ 341 staff, including 115 custodial officers, it has remained regularly understaffed, losing more than 100 staff members from 2019 through 2022. The Bureau of Prisons has stepped up recruitment drives for the federal prison through on-site and off-site recruitment events; however, as of May 2023, the prison remains short at least 56 correctional staff, including 27 custodial officers, due mostly to lack of competitive compensation.

Wyden and Merkley noted in their letter that when 25% retention bonuses have been granted at other federal penitentiaries with similar problems, recruitment has improved and attrition rates have fallen at those facilities.

“Full staffing is also critical to ensuring that the health, safety, and constitutional rights of incarcerated people are protected. In August of last year, we wrote to BOP Director Peters about our concerns regarding inmates' experiences with unaddressed medical needs and small cell confinement and allegations of staff retaliation and violence at FCI Sheridan. While we understand that these allegations remain under investigation by BOP, improving recruitment and retention of custodial staff as well as doctors, nurses, and other non-custodial staff is paramount to making sure that inmates’ rights are protected,” Wyden and Merkley wrote.

The text of the letter is here.

###