Associated Press

COLUMBUS

The state prisons director says most Ohio wardens received raises this year as they take on more responsibility under a reorganization plan for the overcrowded system.

That’s drawing criticism from the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, the union that represents about 9,000 corrections staffers, which views the raises as an insult in light of hundreds of layoffs and reports of a looming budget shortfall in the prisons division.

“They’re asking us to make sacrifices but giving exorbitant raises to, basically, the desk jockeys,” OCSEA spokeswoman Sally Meckling told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The wardens earned rates ranging from below $35 an hour to above $44 an hour, but most are making $42.40 — or about $88,000 a year.