News Photo by Julie Riddle Deputy Mike Lash, currently filling a position in the Alpena County Jail, and corrections officer Brad Peters talk in the jail entryway on Wednesday.

ALPENA – Multiple potential hires may soon bring the Alpena County Jail to full staff, according to Alpena County Sheriff Steven Kieliszewski.

After fighting a staffing shortage that required Kieliszewski to temporarily assign road patrol officers to jail positions, the jail now has a list of qualified applicants for corrections officers positions, the sheriff reported.

He has extended conditional offers of employment to several potential hires. If those offers are accepted, the jail would have a full staff of 18, Kieliszewski said.

Should some of those hires not work out, the jail could tap into a pool of other eligible applicants, he said.

Reflecting a nationwide problem, jail administration has struggled with staffing since the county built a new jail building, completed in 2021.

Even in the old, smaller building, the jail ran into staffing difficulties, with corrections officers required to log many overtime hours to maintain required staffing ratios.

In January, after several corrections officers left for other jobs, Kieliszewski temporarily reassigned road patrol officers to work in the jail.

Once the new corrections officers complete a six-week training at Alpena Community College beginning in June, deputies filling corrections officer positions will be able to go back to road patrol, Kieliszewski said.

A raise for corrections officers – approved in January by the Alpena County Commissioners – and a simplified application process incentivised the recent applicants, Kieliszewski believes.

Before the raises, the county’s corrections officers drew among the lowest wages in the state. The pay increase brings those wages in line with a typical corrections officer pay.

The office has also received applicants for road patrol positions, some with military experience or criminal justice degrees.

The sheriff’s office would have to sponsor the road patrol applicants through a 17-week police academy before they could begin field training with an Alpena County officer.

The applicants for both positions seem eager to serve the community, Kieliszewski said.

“Before, it was looking pretty gloomy,” he said. “Now, it’s looking pretty good.”

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.