Maryland Correctional Facilities Face Staffing Strain

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland correctional facilities are grappling with the real-world impacts of chronic staffing shortages as the state enters 2026, according to union leaders and funding watchdogs who have been vocal over the past several months.

The staffing challenges have drawn increased attention from lawmakers and advocates during the tail end of 2025 and into the new year as state budget and workforce issues have taken center stage in Annapolis.

Union representatives with AFSCME Maryland Council 3 — which represents thousands of correctional officers and other state workers — have warned that insufficient staffing has begun to erode safety and services within prisons. In a Dec. 23, 2025, press conference, Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Council 3, stressed the role of state staffing levels in sustaining essential services. “You can’t continue to run state government without qualified people who are willing to serve and take on difficult work,” Moran said, calling for greater investment in hiring and retention. “If we do not have the resources to hire and retain people … state services collapse.”

Also at that press event, Oluwadamilola Olaniyan, president of AFSCME Local 1678 and a correctional officer sergeant at Jessup Correctional Institution, outlined how existing staffing issues have compounded other operational strains. “The depopulation at MRDCC was not due to any brand-new emerging crisis — it was due to existing problems we have been calling on the administration to fix for years,” Olaniyan said, pointing to the department’s recent emergency actions and transfers as symptomatic of deeper workforce gaps.

Union leaders have also connected staffing shortfalls to broader state budget pressures that have emerged across agencies. Moran noted that the state must contend with “chronic understaffing, dangerous working conditions, and unsustainable workloads” as Maryland navigates fiscal challenges, a concern echoed publicly in union testimony late last year.

These staffing concerns do not exist in a vacuum. Recent budget reports from the Department of Legislative Services show that correctional officer vacancy rates remain elevated, contributing to heightened overtime spending and heavier workloads for remaining staff. While the department is pursuing recruitment incentives such as hiring bonuses and expanded outreach, union leaders say the practical effects on safety and programming are not yet widely felt on facility floors.

Correctional staffing issues are expected to remain a topic of debate as state budget negotiations proceed in the 2026 session, particularly as lawmakers weigh funding priorities for public safety and corrections. The combination of a persistently high vacancy rate, increased overtime costs and service disruptions inside facilities has highlighted the real-time effects that workforce gaps have on Maryland’s prison system.

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