Maryland Prisons, Union Reach Deal On Restructuring

BALTIMORE (AP) -- In a move that avoids layoffs, Maryland's corrections department and the union representing state workers have reached an agreement on a restructuring of the agency's human resources division, officials said Monday.

Stephen T. Moyer, secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said 26 employees will be reassigned jobs in other parts of the agency, without a reduction in pay and within their current geographic location. He added that 29 vacant positions will be eliminated, for an annual savings of $1.5 million.

Patrick Moran, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3, said the agreement "respects the service of and protects the jobs of these hard-working employees, while still allowing the department to reorganize human resources functions."

Last month, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's administration had asked Maryland's Board of Public Works to approve a plan to cut $3 million from the corrections department by abolishing 63 positions. Moyer said Hogan asked him to come up with a way to reorganize the division without layoffs.

The department continues work to reform a system still reeling from rampant corruption at the now-closed, state-run Baltimore City Detention Center, where 24 correctional officers were convicted in a sweeping conspiracy case involving gang members.

And last month, Moyer reported that more than 250 employees in the corrections department have been arrested since January 2013, more than 200 of whom are still employed.

"We need to figure out who got through the cracks so that everyone feels safe at our facilities," Moyer said. "That means a centralized, streamlined human resources department."

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