8 MD inmate stabbings over July 4 revive staffing questions

A July 4 weekend brawl at Roxbury Correctional Institution in which eight inmates were stabbed and hospitalized has renewed scrutiny of conditions at state prisons, with a lawmaker and labor leaders saying it points up short-staffing problems.

“They’re mandating folks to work 16-hour shifts over and over again,” said Linda He, a spokesperson for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3, which represents Roxbury staff. “They’re losing the folks who are really experienced because they’re burned out, you know? Why do this work when the pay isn’t ever going to keep up or make the work worth it?”

Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services officials acknowledge long-term staffing problems, which they say they have been successfully working to address, but they insist that staffing issues had nothing to do with the stabbings in early July.

“We want to be clear: This incident was not the result of short staffing. Our operational assessments confirm that adequate security protocols were – and remain – in place, and that this event was unrelated to current staffing levels,” said Yianni Varonis, the department’s spokesperson.

The July stabbings come against a backdrop of rising homicides at state prisons. There have been 32 homicides investigated at state prison facilities since 2023 – more than half of all inmate killings recorded since 2015. There were two inmate killings at Roxbury in May including the death of Colin Wolf, 32, in his cell, a death that led to the departure of Roxbury’s warden and administrative charges against 19 officers.

“The violence at Roxbury is unfortunately nothing new,” He said.

State Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington and Frederick, visited the prison July 8, after his office got calls and emails about the holiday weekend violence. During that visit, he said he got to speak with new Warden Damean Stewart.

One of the biggest challenges Corderman said he has seen during his time in Annapolis, as both a delegate and senator, since 2017: staffing.

“God bless the staff there now,” he said. “But things must improve.”

After a visit that lasted more than 30 minutes, Corderman said he got a phone call from Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Carolyn Scruggs, and a July 10 letter from Scruggs. In the letter, Scruggs said it was “regrettable” she could not meet with Corderman on short notice and agreed the health and safety of staff and those incarcerated is “of the highest priority,” She also outlined how she’s reduced the vacancy rate during her tenure.

The year before Scruggs was appointed in 2023 by Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, the vacancy rate was 15.36% but it has been cut almost in half, to 8.42%, since then, according to Varonis. He said it was a problem inherited from the previous administration.

“Between January 2015 and January 2023, 1,796 correctional positions were eliminated in the State budget, hampering the ability of the Moore Administration to adequately staff State correctional facilities,” Varonis said.

“Since 2023 — in collaboration with the union, correctional experts, budget analysts, and the General Assembly — most of those lost positions have been restored,” he said.

Still, Scruggs wrote to Corderman that more work needs to be done “to shore up staffing” in Western Maryland, where Roxbury is, and in Eastern Shore facilities.

“As you know, those are the most challenging regions of the State to recruit and sustain employment while ensuring the Department is hiring correctional officers that meet the highest standards of conduct established,” Scruggs wrote. “These are issues that cannot be resolved over a 30-minute meeting with the newly appointed Warden at RCI or a 20-minute phone call with me. I invite you to partner with me and work together.”

Staffing problems are part of a statewide and national issue, said Wanda Bertram, communications strategist for the Prison Policy Initiative, a criminal justice research and advocacy group. Without adequate staffing, correctional facilities in other states have turned to short-term solutions like lockdowns, which present safety and health issues for inmates.

But Bertram also said more hiring isn’t the only solution to the staffing problem.

“The other way to right-size these population imbalances is to let people out of prison,” she said, adding that advocates have long called for making it easier for inmates who pose the lowest risk to return to their communities.

She pointed to inmates over 55, inmates in for minor offenses and those already close to their release dates as prime examples of people whose release could alleviate the challenge faced by facility staff.

“You know, if you want to release 1,000 people from prison, you can do it. We saw that happen during COVID-19,” she said, pointing to states like California, North Carolina and New Jersey that released thousands of inmates early after the onset of the pandemic.

Broad and swift releases of inmates would require action from the governor or lawmakers, but Bertram said there are still actions that can be taken.

“Maryland is a state that has parole,” she said. There are ways to “get more hearings going,” she said, including by adding hearing examiners.

Hearing officers and examiners, which often review cases alone and make recommendations to the commissioners, are hired at the discretion of the DPSCS secretary.

“These are all ways that you can lower the size of the prison population that can allow departments to consolidate people in facilities that are better staffed,” Bertram said. “I don’t think that should be left off the table the way that it seems to.”

What’s “absolutely not” on the table for Corderman is letting inmates out of prison before their sentence is up.

“The unfortunate reality is these individuals are in prison for a reason. I have no appetite for prisoner release,” he said. “That is ludicrous. I can’t talk strongly enough against that.”

Corderman said he hopes to improve maintenance at the facilities, like air conditioning and fire alarms, and take the staffing issue seriously. For Corderman, that includes the possibility of deploying the National Guard if needed.

“I think the biggest thing, especially as far as the staff, because you’re not going to be able to staff overall, is having the National Guard come in to support,” he said. “It may sound, you know, as an extreme measure, but we’re in an extreme situation here, and everything’s got to be on the table.”

Whatever the solution, Bertram and He both said that they hope the state can get things done.

“All of us are working together to basically hold the decisionmakers accountable,” He said. “Because until there’s changes, people’s lives are going to be at risk and people’s lives are going to be lost, whether it’s incarcerated individuals or its staff.”

Corderman said the topic of public safety at correctional facilities may come up when the legislature convenes for a special session Aug. 3-5, even though the session was called specifically for redistricting efforts.

“Anytime there’s a session, we can bring all cards on the table,” he said. “We are always open for that. Definitely a possibility,” Corderman said. “Whether the [Democratic] majority wants to do something about that, we’ll see what happens.”

Will Hammann is a general assignment news and data reporter for Maryland Matters. William J. Ford has reported for more than 25 years on local, county and state politics.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: [email protected]. Follow Maryland Matters on Facebook and Twitter.