Columbia, SC (WLTX) - South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has signed an executive order that gives the state's prison system new powers and flexibility to increase security.
McMaster issued an executive order Monday waives regulations that will the South Carolina Department of Corrections to do several actions to increase security immediately. The move comes in response to last week's deadly prison riot at Lee Correctional Institution which left seven inmates dead and 22 others injured.
"We believe this executive order gives Director Stirling the tools the department needs to properly compensate the brave men and women who serve our state as correctional officers," said Gov. Henry McMaster. "This order will also allow the department to expedite important security measures following the unprecedented and premeditated gang violence that occurred at the Lee Correctional Facility, facilitated by the flow of illegal contraband, namely cell phones."
Specifically, the order is going to allow corrections to hire and give salary increases to security personnel at prisons without going through the normal human resources process. Included in the changes are allowing on-the-spot hiring without posting job vacancies, and allow adjusting of salary without reclassifying employees.
It also removes some overtime restrictions, and gives the agency flexibility to provide other monetary compensation.
The agency can also go out and buy materials for new physical security around the prisons, including netting devices that rise above the exterior fences to stop illegal contraband from being thrown inside the grounds.
On Sunday, April 15, officers say inmates got into a gang fight over territory and cell phones inside the prison. The fight spread to several dorms, and it took almost eight hours to fully secure the prison.
An outside agency has been brought in to review the incident. The group will be headed by the former director of Texas' prison system.