The director of the Lexington jail is expressing some optimism about filling staffing vacancies at the detention facility. The matter came up during Tuesday’s Urban County Council Work Session. Jail officials say there are currently 108 officer vacancies. Council Member Richard Moloney asked about ongoing efforts to firm up staffing.
“When you are 108 behind and you think, you think you’ll get your 25 30 people wanting this job as soon as possible. Because you’re talking ten weeks of training. We’re still not out of the woods, is what you are telling me. This may be a long time before we get out of the woods,” said Moloney.
Jail director Lisa Farmer said four employees at the jail retired in early January, four officers left for higher pay in another county, and eight more left for medical reasons, relocation, and one termination. Farmer noted a vote is scheduled this Friday on a collective bargaining agreement between the city and employees.
She told Council there are several recruiting events coming up including those at Morehead, EKU, and Keeneland.
“We’re working right now on a professional recruiting video so that we can post everywhere and then we’re also doing ads through Arthur Lucas’ office on the buses as well. So, we’ve got some recruiting events going on. So, I think that we will get there. It’s just not going to be all at once,” explained Farmer.
Farmer said there are currently two people in training. Moloney called that figure “scary” since officers must go through ten weeks of training.
