Michigan corrections officers and their families continue to plead with state government officials to resolve a legal battle that has stalled bills from reaching Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk.
Last year, nine bipartisan bills were passed by both legislative chambers, but they were never sent to the governor's desk after House Republicans elected not to send them once they took the majority in early 2025.
Three of the bills would provide relief to the statewide prison staffing shortage by improving post-retirement benefits for corrections officers.
According to the latest state data, ten state prisons have at least a 20% vacancy rate for all positions, while others remain in the single digits. State prisons in the Upper Peninsula have some of the highest vacancy rates in the state, with the Marquette Branch Prison posting a 33.9% vacancy rate for all positions.
The Michigan Department of Corrections has told WCMU on multiple occasions that the safety of its staff is a "paramount concern." Additionally, the department has said it continues to try and boost vacancy numbers through hiring events.
A Michigan Court of Appeals recently ruled the House must send the bills to the governor, but the court could not order them to do so. House Speaker Matt Hall told the Michigan Public Radio Network they plan to appeal the ruling.
Bryon Osborn, a corrections officer in Chippewa County and president of the union representing Michigan's correctional officers, says families continue to suffer in the wake of the legal battle.
"Approximately half of our prisons in Michigan right now are significantly understaffed," Osborn said. "It's a 24/7 operation, so the officers that are working at these facilities that are significantly short staffed, they're being forced to work just an amazing amount of mandatory overtime.”
Osborn explained that officers would typically work eight-hour shifts, six days a week. But because the prisons are understaffed, they are subjected to mandatory overtime. The new normal is working 16-hour shifts for six consecutive days a week, Osborn said.
“You can decline the overtime and say, no, I'm not going to do it,” Osborn said.“But what comes after that is a charge of insubordination, and then you get disciplined for it.”
He said the insubordination charges feed into the issue. The more officers are overworked, the more difficult dealing with a sometimes volatile prison environment becomes.
Melissa Perron, the wife of a corrections officer and member of a community advocacy group in Sault Ste. Marie, said the staffing crisis has negative impacts both at work and at home.
The officers spend so much time at the prison that they miss valuable time with their families, she said. There have been cases, she said, where family life becomes so stressful that it results in families breaking up.
“Being at work for 16 hours and knowing that he's [her husband] missing all of these moments, finishing the school year, championship games,” Perron said. “I can't imagine the guilt that he has to carry knowing that he is missing those times for his kids.”
Not only that, Perron added, but the crisis also harms the officer's physical and mental health. They often suffer physical violence inside the prison and are simultaneously worn down by the toll the overtime takes on their bodies.
“The department is lucky there has not been a tragic incident yet based on an officer falling asleep at the wheel,” Perron said. “I have spoken to wives who have said that their husbands have told them that they have fallen asleep and luckily woken up.”
Even with these risks, Perron said officers who have been with the department for many years continue to work out of loyalty to their fellow officers. She said they understand if they leave, they leave their friends in worse conditions than before.
Osborn said that because officers are employed by the state, the only way to alter their compensation is by passing new legislation.
“Our legislature acknowledged the fact that these post-retirement benefits could be a big piece of the puzzle bin solving this problem because they passed these bills last year,” Osborn said. “Now we're stuck in this, I'll call it, a cycle of dirty politics.”
As the bills remain in limbo, both Byron and Perron said the frustration felt by officers and their families continues to fester, and hope is something they struggle to hold on to.
“There's no guarantee she's [Whitmer] going to sign them,” Osborn said. “We already know she doesn't support them because she's never demanded that they come to her desk. We don't have any reason to even really feel confident that she's going to sign them if they get to her.”
Perron went on to say that even if the bills are signed, it might not be enough to give the officers actual relief.
“Initially, that probably would have helped, a little bit,” Perron said. "But now I think that the staffing crisis is so dire that, yes, the pension will be helpful for retaining some officers, but your boat is sinking. That is not even going to stop you from sinking anymore.
“They are definitely necessary, but there's a lot more that needs to be done.”
