JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ A jury has awarded Missouri prison guards
compensation for work they performed before and after their shifts.
A Cole County jury on Tuesday awarded $113.7 million to 13,000 current
corrections officers or those who worked at the Department of Corrections since
2007.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports legal filings in the case say the guards
weren’t paid for entrance and exit procedures they must perform every day, even
though they are in uniform and expected to respond at any time.
Mary Compton, spokeswoman for the Missouri Attorney General’s office, says the
lawsuit involves procedures used by the Department of Corrections over several
years and administrations. She says the office, which has been defending the
state in the case for several years, disagrees with the verdict and is assessing
the next step.
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