Wyoming stops housing inmates in Mississippi prison thanks to improved staffing

Improved staffing across Wyoming correctional facilities allowed the Wyoming Department of Corrections to bring inmates back from a Mississippi prison, where they were sent in 2023, agency Director Dan Shannon said. 

The corrections department announced last month that it had returned to Wyoming all 240 inmates who had been housed at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tallahatchie, Mississippi. 

“Bringing these individuals back home to their families has always been a top priority,” Shannon said in the announcement. 

Citing staffing shortages, the department had sent the prisoners in 2023 to the Mississippi prison. At the time, Shannon noted concerns about this arrangement. “Keeping them away from home with no home visits and limited family interaction — they do have access to video conferences and things like that — it does have a negative impact on the rehabilitative mindset,” he said.

At the time, about 25% of the department’s uniformed staff positions were vacant. Those staffing shortages were particularly severe at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins. In September 2023, when the inmates were sent out of state, uniform staffing at the state penitentiary was about 65%. Since then, the department has managed to close that gap, with uniform staffing now sitting at a little over 83% at the facility, Shannon wrote in an email. 

Staffing across other correctional facilities in Wyoming has also “improved significantly” over the past two years, according to Shannon. 

Shannon credited these staffing improvements to three factors: salary increases, “aggressive” recruitment and staff retention. 

Wyoming lawmakers voted to increase state employee salaries during the last legislative session, allowing state agencies like the corrections department to boost pay for current and potential staff. These pay increases allowed the corrections department “to be more competitive in the regional job market,” Shannon wrote. 

Combined with “aggressive recruitment strategies,” these salary incentives have led to “an increase in qualified candidates applying for correctional roles,” according to Shannon. 

“Equally important is our focus on retaining the dedicated staff already serving our agency,” Shannon wrote. To this end, the department prioritizes workplace safety and has expanded career development opportunities, he said.  

Whether the corrections department can continue housing all inmates in Wyoming is uncertain. That depends on facility capacity and continuing to maintain and improve staffing levels, Shannon wrote. 

“Given the unpredictability of future court commitments alongside existing staff vacancy rates, long-term operational needs remain subject to change,” he wrote. “Should the need for out-of-state transfers arise in the future, any decision will be made with one primary priority: safety. The safety and security of our staff, the inmates in our custody, and our facilities will drive these determinations, not financial costs.” 

The department’s facilities are now “operating at full capacity,” according to Shannon. 

In addition to the inmates sent to Mississippi, the corrections department transferred 40 inmates to the Lincoln County Detention Center in Kemmerer and eight others to the Sublette County Detention Center in Pinedale. Now, about 24 inmates are housed at the Lincoln County Detention Center. All female inmates who were temporarily placed at the Sublette County Detention Center have returned to the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk, Shannon wrote. 

The department also has “active housing partnerships with other local county jails across the state,” Shannon said. “Because all state-operated WDOC facilities are presently operating at full capacity, the department continues to actively seek out and evaluate additional county housing options in anticipation of ongoing capacity demands.” 

WyoFile reporter Maggie Mullen contributed to this story.