Forsyth County detention officers unable to take earned vacation days, causing high vacancy rate, county says

By DaVonté McKenith

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    WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (WXII) — As detention officer vacancies rise from month to month at the Forsyth County jail, county commissioners are providing insight into another reason why.

On Nov. 14, 50 vacancies were reported at the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center. On Nov. 21, 79 vacancies. On Nov. 30, 83 vacancies. On Dec. 16, 86 vacancies. On Jan. 26, 94 vacancies. On Feb. 23, 95 vacancies. On March 2, 96 vacancies were reported.

In the most recent count, a spokesperson for the FCLEDC said as of April 19, the jail had 104 vacancies with three pending resignations.

Some reasoning behind the rise in resignations came to light after a consultant, through Applied HR Solutions, Inc., completed surveys with jail employees. The consultant was hired by the county once morale and leadership issues were revealed. Over 140 surveys were completed.

Interviews, focus groups and face-to-face discussions showed that issues are complex, systemic and deep-rooted. It was the same findings a survey discovered in 2016.

Forsyth County Board of Commissioners Chairman Don Martin says all commissioners and county leadership staff are concerned with the high vacancy rate among detention officers.

“One of the reasons that detention officers are leaving appears to be the inability to depend on being able to take earned vacation days for leave approved in advance for special events – such as a child’s birthday or anniversary celebration. We are exploring some new ways that we might be able to create a supply of available substitutes that would allow approved leave to almost always be taken as planned,” Martin said.

Martin said some of the ideas that are being explored might require some changes in state rules and regulations.

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Service, the Jails and Detention Unit conducts semiannual surveys of county, municipal and regional jails to monitor compliance with the state’s minimum requirements in the statutes and rules.

“The minimum standards are specific to the operations of the jail, including duties that must be performed by staff. The number of staff required to comply with the minimum standards vary based on many factors, including the number of inmates and screening and classification of them, jail design, the jail’s operations manual, etc.,” an NCDHHS spokesperson said.

The implementation of rotating shifts at the Forsyth County jail at the beginning of 2023 led to more vacancies at the time. Martin said it appears the impact from that is decreasing.

“On a positive note, it does appear that the vacancies that resulted from rotating shifts has slowed and we are hiring more staff than are leaving,” Martin said.

In a statement, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough says they are experiencing shortages at the jail — “just like every other law enforcement agency across the state.”

“We are continuously working through the challenges and creating ways to attract new hires by increasing the pay, offering sign-on bonuses, and more. And as far as the residents of the FCLEDC (inmates), they are still being served and cared for around the clock.”

Martin said despite the sheriff’s efforts, the high vacancy rate “is a real problem with more than one root cause.”

“All we can do is keep working on different aspects of the concerns identified by our extensive staff survey and focus groups and evaluate whether new strategies work or not,” Martin said.

Martin’s response to the growing vacancies, and reveal of detention officers not being able to use earned paid time off, come on the heels of a visit from Attorney General Josh Stein.

Stein will hold a press conference on Monday about law enforcement recruitment and retention in North Carolina. Stein will be joined by Sen. Danny Britt, Rep. John Faircloth, Kimbrough, Hendersonville Police Chief Blair Myhand, and other leaders to discuss solutions to the staffing and retention challenges that law enforcement agencies and sheriffs’ offices are dealing with throughout North Carolina.

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