Prison transfers from Colorado City due to fewer guards, official says

The transfer of hundreds of prisoners from the Ware Unit in Colorado City is due to low guard numbers, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman confirmed Wednesday.
The prison is operating at 53 percent of its guard capacity, said Jason Clark, public information officer for the TDCJ.
At the same time, the Ware was at near capacity for prisoners, said Lance Lowry, president of the Huntsville chapter of the union representing prison guards.
"The agency is reducing the offender population at the Smith (in Lamesa) and Ware Units to help deal with the staffing vacancies," Clark said. "Given the current offender population statewide, the agency has the flexibility to temporarily transfer these offenders to other units without overcrowding those facilities."
On Tuesday, the TDCJ said 400 prisoners would be transferred to prisons statewide. The transfer has not yet been completed.
The Ware Unit has the capacity for 917 prisoners and 155 security employees, according to the TDCJ website.
It was also announced Tuesday that 200 inmates had been transferred from the Smith Unit in Lamesa due to the guard shortage. Those inmates are now being housed in the Ferguson Unit in East Texas.
"Those are certainly two of the units that we are facing some staffing challenges in across the state," Clark said.
He said the guard shortage might be caused by the bustling energy industry in West and South Texas — namely, the cultivation of natural gas and petroleum.
"We've seen an uptick in hiring form the oil and gas industry, which typically tends to pay a higher salary," he said.
But the agency has been upping its efforts to recruits new correctional officers, Clark said. This summer, the agency doubled its signing bonus to $3,000.
"The recruitment and retention of officers remains a top priority for the agency," he said. "The correctional officer position is one of the most challenging positions in state government."