Utah state prison needs to fill 300 vacant staffing positions

The new Utah State Correctional Facility is pictured in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 30, 2022. The prison operations director for the Utah State Correctional Facility says over 300 positions still need be filled for the prison to be fully staffed.

The new Utah State Correctional Facility is pictured in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 30, 2022. The prison operations director for the Utah State Correctional Facility says over 300 positions still need be filled for the prison to be fully staffed. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — The prison operations director for the Utah State Correctional Facility says over 300 positions still need be filled for the prison to be fully staffed.

On Tuesday, Dan Chesnut gave a brief update on what was happening at the state prison in Salt Lake City following three separate attacks on corrections officers in two weeks.

The assaults happened on Jan. 21, Jan. 30 and Feb. 4. One was in the Currant facility, which is the mental health unit, and two occurred in the Antelope housing unit, which is the maximum security area.

The two assaults in the Antelope facility both occurred while officers were preparing dinner for the inmates, Chesnut said. In the Feb. 4 incident, an officer was assaulted by an inmate who refused to return to his cell, he said.

"As we reviewed these incidents, it's been apparent that these individuals were determined and sought opportunities to carry out these acts," Chesnut said. "When an offender is motivated, they can look for those opportunities in many ways."

All three officers were treated for injuries at local hospitals and then released the same day. Chesnut said they were "recovering well."

But according to Chad Bennion, executive director at the Utah Fraternal Order of Police Utah Corrections Lodge 14, some of the recent assaults have resulted in officers suffering broken bones and noses.

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The attacks prompted corrections officials to place both the Salt Lake facility and the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison on lockdown Sunday. Both facilities returned to normal operations on Monday, with the exception of the Antelope housing unit which was placed "on a modified lockdown." The Antelope unit was back to normal operations by Tuesday.

To address the recent problem, Chesnut said, "Some of the steps we've taken recently are to review communication systems, restructure movement in certain areas, reinforce training in structured housing and thoroughly review our security measures." He declined to go into detail, however, saying he did not want to compromise security efforts.

When asked whether staffing shortages or the design of the new prison were mainly to blame, Chesnut said staffing is always the top concern, but that also "a balance between staffing and how buildings are designed" needs to be found and administrators are constantly reviewing that balance.


With the design of the new prison, with this model, there's just been — as it's coming to light — too many blind spots, too many opportunities, and things for the inmates to exploit right now.

–Chad Bennion, Utah Fraternal Order of Police Utah Corrections Lodge 14


According to Bennion, "With the design of the new prison, with this model, there's just been — as it's coming to light — too many blind spots, too many opportunities, and things for the inmates to exploit right now."

As for staffing levels, Chesnut said as of Jan. 23, there were a total of 372 vacant correctional officer positions. However, that number is also based on the presumption that the entire correctional facility is operating. Currently, there are three buildings at the prison that are closed, according to a corrections spokeswoman.

Officers are currently having to work mandatory overtime shifts to fill staffing shortages. To eliminate overtime shifts, Chesnut said an additional 135 corrections officers would need to be hired.

The recent attacks have also caught the attention of state lawmakers.

"We're trying to determine what we can do to try to help with those," Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said Monday. "It's something we're concerned about and something that I hope we're able to at least find out what some of the solutions are and what some of the options that we have in the Legislature to deal with some of those issues."

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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