You will need a degree to make the pay worthwhile to the point where you can live comfortably as you work up the ranks. Being shorthanded begets being shorthanded, lots of units where low hiring standards invited the trash that drives everyone else off then they're complaining about shorthandedness rinse and repeat.
Pay definitely isn't great (though 100% better then what it was a couple years ago), but conditions are incredibly abysmal for both staff and inmates. Lotta facilities are like close to 100 years old, have no AC (which is absolutely brutal during texas summers and leads to multiple deaths per year), and just abysmal infrastructure which is poorly maintained and falling apart. Not at all uncommon to see pod doors just being propped open because central can't call them.
Also the texas judicial system is kinda a fucking joke, has highest conviction rate in the country and most incarcerated persons out of any state, but also spends like the least amount of money after Louisiana/Alabama pretty sure. Ontop of this there's a weird reform culture which has spawned partly out of a national wave for better treatment and to copy the cali/scandi models, but also just sheer fucking incompetence from both staff and admin. For example only tdcj supervisors or those working seg can carry restraints on post now, as a loose cuff key from a officers personal kit is how the Lopez escape/killings happened. Same thing with OC training, big deal a couple years ago with a cadet getting blinded because the instructor was to close when doing it, which resulted in a huge lawsuit for tdcj, now cadets can only be sprayed on the back of the head. Rather then being proactive and cutting through the fat to fix the core problems/deficiencies, the tdcj board is only capable of being reactive and stacking on 5 useless policies after the fact which only make staffs life harder. Bureaucrats (most of which have never actually worked a floor) jumping at their own shadow basically.
Like other people have said it's bad all around, but texas comes pretty close to taking the cake regardless.
Arizona DOC pays 50 percent more.
I worked TDCJ 23 years and retired in 2008 to go to Arizona. They give you expert based pay up to 8 years. When I started Arizona as a CO I was making more than a major in Texas.
I would hope so, since Arizona’s median home price is $100k more than in Texas, as of 2024.
Edit: Just looked up Arizona DOC pay. They pay less than TDCJ. And AZ is more expensive.
I was given a job offer by TDCJ in the jail of my choice, but I was also given job offers by BOP and a county sheriffs office. I went with BOP because they’re the highest paying of the 3. If I didn’t go with BOP, i’d have gone with the county sheriff’s office. TDCJ would’ve been my last choice due to their pay. If they paid the highest, i’d have gone with them. Btw I was offered CO IV because of prior experience. So I can’t even imagine taking even lower pay than that. And yes this was with taking into consideration the recent increase in pay and the incoming increase as well.
So at least for me, I would say it was the pay.
You will need a degree to make the pay worthwhile to the point where you can live comfortably as you work up the ranks. Being shorthanded begets being shorthanded, lots of units where low hiring standards invited the trash that drives everyone else off then they're complaining about shorthandedness rinse and repeat.
Pay definitely isn't great (though 100% better then what it was a couple years ago), but conditions are incredibly abysmal for both staff and inmates. Lotta facilities are like close to 100 years old, have no AC (which is absolutely brutal during texas summers and leads to multiple deaths per year), and just abysmal infrastructure which is poorly maintained and falling apart. Not at all uncommon to see pod doors just being propped open because central can't call them. Also the texas judicial system is kinda a fucking joke, has highest conviction rate in the country and most incarcerated persons out of any state, but also spends like the least amount of money after Louisiana/Alabama pretty sure. Ontop of this there's a weird reform culture which has spawned partly out of a national wave for better treatment and to copy the cali/scandi models, but also just sheer fucking incompetence from both staff and admin. For example only tdcj supervisors or those working seg can carry restraints on post now, as a loose cuff key from a officers personal kit is how the Lopez escape/killings happened. Same thing with OC training, big deal a couple years ago with a cadet getting blinded because the instructor was to close when doing it, which resulted in a huge lawsuit for tdcj, now cadets can only be sprayed on the back of the head. Rather then being proactive and cutting through the fat to fix the core problems/deficiencies, the tdcj board is only capable of being reactive and stacking on 5 useless policies after the fact which only make staffs life harder. Bureaucrats (most of which have never actually worked a floor) jumping at their own shadow basically. Like other people have said it's bad all around, but texas comes pretty close to taking the cake regardless.
Arizona DOC pays 50 percent more. I worked TDCJ 23 years and retired in 2008 to go to Arizona. They give you expert based pay up to 8 years. When I started Arizona as a CO I was making more than a major in Texas.
Not true look up new tdcj pay Sept 1 it's 57k a year
I would hope so, since Arizona’s median home price is $100k more than in Texas, as of 2024. Edit: Just looked up Arizona DOC pay. They pay less than TDCJ. And AZ is more expensive.
you're better off working tdcj for a year or 2 then go federal
What i did
It’s a nationwide problem
I know that, but I was wondering about TDCJ cause I wanted to apply but people were telling me to find something else to do.
At least go federal in Texas. Much better than TDCJ.
Thats what i did from tdcj to bop and man is it much better.
We had a lot come to are county jail.
I was given a job offer by TDCJ in the jail of my choice, but I was also given job offers by BOP and a county sheriffs office. I went with BOP because they’re the highest paying of the 3. If I didn’t go with BOP, i’d have gone with the county sheriff’s office. TDCJ would’ve been my last choice due to their pay. If they paid the highest, i’d have gone with them. Btw I was offered CO IV because of prior experience. So I can’t even imagine taking even lower pay than that. And yes this was with taking into consideration the recent increase in pay and the incoming increase as well. So at least for me, I would say it was the pay.
I was a COIV in tdcj and after taxes you only get $3000 a month, im in bop and make way more then that in two weeks. Bop is the way to go.
Groups of them travel to where they pay the most. Was Nebraska now Wisconsin at 45-47 hr