Posted at 11:51 p.m. EDT Wednesday, October 6, 1999

SUMMONED: Corrections Secretary Michael Moore.

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida's corrections system, which claims budget cuts have forced it to shut down a prison, is under fire for handing out at least $2 million in hefty raises to office workers.

An outraged Miami-Dade lawmaker, who heads the House criminal justice budget committee, has asked Department of Corrections Secretary Michael Moore to appear before legislators today to explain the raises. He says the money should have gone to corrections officers.

``These raises aren't going to the people who risk their lives day in and day out,'' said Rep. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, whose committee oversees the prison system's $1.7 billion budget. ``We want this money spent on guards, on security, on the front line. We don't have a prison system without the guards.''

The hikes, which went into effect July 1, include a 68 percent raise for a purchasing agent, whose salary jumped $27,984 to $46,999. An accountant got a 52 percent raise, from $25,075 to $38,000.

Department of Corrections officials admit some of the raises are steep -- but said there's a good reason: Those workers have new jobs with more responsibilities.

``On paper it might look kind of unusual, but behind each one there's a logical explanation for what happened,'' corrections spokesman C.J. Drake said. ``It's not like we just handed people a bunch of money. It was done for a reason.''

The workers -- all career service employees with the state -- were recruited to move to one of seven new regional service centers, which are taking over purchasing, personnel and administrative functions that previously were done prison by prison. Now, one service center in each area will be responsible for several prisons.

New positions were posted and many employees ended up with jobs that were three or four pay grades above their previous positions, resulting in the huge raises.

SAVINGS EXPECTED

But the regional centers are expected to save the prison system 287 jobs and $10 million a year, said Bill Thurber, director of administration.

``We're operating this way to be more efficient,'' Thurber said. ``Yes, people got raises but we've consolidated to save $10 million that could be used on salaries for officers.''

That decision, Thurber noted, would not be up to Moore, but to the governor and Legislature, in conjunction with the bargaining unit that represents corrections officers.

``This is apples and oranges,'' Drake said. ``Even if we wanted to we couldn't take money allocated for administration and give it to the corrections officers.''

Villalobos said he wants to hear those explanations.

``That's why we want him to come before the committee,'' Villalobos said. ``It's hard to understand when the department is talking about a $51 million budget cut how it's doing these types of raises for the administration. If anyone ought to get raises it's the guards and we ought to be the ones to make that determination.''

UNDER SCRUTINY

The department has come under increased legislative scrutiny since the July 17 death of Death Row inmate Frank Valdes, who died after a scuffle with prison guards. Nine corrections officers are under suspension while the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigate.

Since the Valdes death, the prison has come under scrutiny for the way prison guards are hired and trained.

Moore has said that budget cuts have forced him to make difficult decisions, including closing a North Florida prison, New River Correctional Institution in Chattahoochee. However, lawmakers say the money he refers to was actually not a cut, but funding that was never allocated to the department because of fewer-than-expected prisoners.