Staffing problem at Buford prison

BUFORD - Staffing is so short at a state prison in Buford that guards from other institutions had to be brought in last week to take up the slack

State prisons officials confirmed the staffing problem to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution which reports that guards are leaving for better paying jobs with the Hall and Gwinnett sheriff's department.

A prison system spokesman says there are 52 vacancies out of 282 security positions at Phillips State Prison.

Starting pay for a prison guard in Georgia is about $24,000 a year - which the spokesman acknowledges is "not much" in the increasingly affluent north Gwinnett area where the prison is located.