North Carolina ranks 49th in starting salaries for correctional officers. Low pay has contributed to severe staffing shortages and high vacancy rates across the state. To address staffing shortages in state prisons, the Department of Adult Correction and the Office of State Human Resources have launched a pilot program in three state prisons to reduce staffing vacancies.
“Right now, we’re asking people to put themselves in a very demanding job – and asking their families to sacrifice on our behalf – so they can earn less money than they can working at a Costco,” said Governor Josh Stein. “And yet, courageous and public-spirited people are taking these critically important jobs. Through this pilot initiative, people get hired, onboarded, and paid quickly so we don’t lose talent to places that could get them started faster. We need to keep improving the hiring processes, and at the same time, we need the General Assembly to raise correctional officer pay so we can provide competitive salaries for these challenging jobs.”
“Significant raises for all of our staff are critical to our ability to recruit and retain, and to work our way out of our critical staffing shortage,” said Adult Correction Secretary Leslie Dismukes. "Many of our employees are working second jobs or hours of overtime, just to make ends meet.”
“Governor Stein and Secretary Dismukes understand the importance of modernizing government to better serve the people of North Carolina,” said State Human Resources Director Staci Meyer. “This starts by strengthening our workforce -- putting the right people in the right jobs. The success of this pilot demonstrates the value of streamlining our HR processes, expanding our service capacity, and elevating the meaning of public service.”
As part of this pilot program, DAC and OSHR have collaborated on a contingent hiring model to expedite the hiring process so people can begin work in other roles while certification steps are completed. This approach fills vacant spots and reduces the loss of potential talent. The state has nearly met its staffing goals at each of the three pilot locations.
To keep families safe, Governor Stein’s recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 makes public safety careers competitive and reflects their high-risk responsibilities by providing all state correctional officers with a 15% pay raise over the biennium and awards hiring bonuses to Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) graduates and out-of-state transfers joining state and local law enforcement agencies.