As the wife of a 15-year Correctional Officer working at Warm Springs Correctional Center (WSCC) in Carson City, NV I have watched the deterioration of this system.  Correctional Officers in the state of Nevada are the only Nevada Peace Officers who were forced to take furloughs when the state mandated them to balance the budget.  

Currently at WSCC there are 37 active officers (on the books there are 60 but that includes those on workman's comp, pending transfers, and resignations) plus 11 in leadership positions which include the 2 wardens, who do not do OT. The current inmate population is 491. There are 3 shifts that these 37 officers have to cover. Numerous other states have offered retention and recruiting bonuses to bolster their correctional officer numbers. Those states have recently used CARES Act money. Governor Sisloak refused to do this stating the cost of testing for Covid-19 was too much. What does Nevada do to retain and recruit officers? Nothing for current officers. At job fairs they give out hot dogs & soda to gain interest. Correctional Officers are the least paid Peace Officers in Nevada. To top it off this year insurance costs increased for officers.  

Today I found out that starting immediately WSCC officers will be required to work five 16-hour shifts but with the attempt to change that to five 12-hour shifts - leaving 4 hours left to mandatory any officers if deemed necessary - 16 hours in a day the max they can legally work in a 24-hour period. Governor Sisolak is the head of the Nevada Department of Corrections (as he is of all the departments run by the state). His consistent refrain has been "families first". My family is not being put first.  I will rarely see my husband and when I do, he will be exhausted. He has joint custody of his 2 kids, so he will only see them 4 days a month.  He will leave before they wake up and come home after they go to bed while he is working 16-hour shifts. 

I am pleading with everyone who is a resident of Nevada to sign this petition and also write or call Governor Sisolak and let him know that this current situation within NDOC is not acceptable.  It is adversely affecting families that are often forgotten about because no one wants to look at the unpleasant parts of society.