Colorado U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper sent a letter to federal officials Monday, urging them to address understaffing and poor working conditions in the Federal Correctional Complex in Florence.

FCC Florence – the nation’s only federal Supermax prison – has been short staffed for more than a year and is currently short by at least 188 staff members, Bennet and Hickenlooper said. The senators blame the staffing issues for creating an “unsustainable environment” in the prison, including regular forced overtime for employees, and two inmate homicides and six serious assaults in the last year.

“In the past 12 months, (the Bureau of Prisons) reassigned non-custody staff 2,247 times to augment correctional officers, with little to no advance notification. … Fatigue, exhaustion, and low morale have reduced staff productivity and led to more sick leave, retirements and resignations,” said the letter addressed to Director of Bureau of Prisons Colette Peters and Director of U.S. Office of Personnel Management Kiran Ahuja.

In the letter, Bennet and Hickenlooper call for a 25% retention bonus for all prison staff – both correctional officers and non-custody staff – to prevent additional attrition and promote new hirings. This bonus was also requested by the American Federation of Government Employees and Local 1169 labor union.

According to the senators, of the 188 employees FCC Florence is lacking, 120 are correctional officers and 66 are non-custody staff. 

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management previously increased retention bonuses for correctional officers in July, from 10% to 25%. In March, the office also granted non-custody staff a 10% retention bonus, including teachers, case managers, counselors and maintenance workers.

Even with these recent changes, Bennet and Hickenlooper said non-custody staff at FCC Florence still make $15,000 less per year on average than staff at the Colorado Department of Corrections, and state staff also receive retention bonuses. 

“So far, in (fiscal year) 2022, FCC Florence has paid more than $6.1 million in overtime for correctional officers, nearly double the $3.8 million in its budget,” according to the letter. “We request your help in addressing these issues to ensure a safe environment for (the Bureau of Prisons) staff, the surrounding communities, and the inmate population.”