Union censures state corrections commissioner

State corrections officers this afternoon publicly censured their boss, Corrections Commissioner Joe Schmidt, with a vote of “no confidence” announced by their union. Officials said the vote, which passed 514-19, was the first of its kind as far as they knew.

When Schmidt was named commissioner by Gov. Sarah Palin in November 2006, he was supported by the union and considered a popular choice for the top job. At the time, he was superintendent of Point MacKenzie Correctional Farm.

Since then, his support by corrections officers has eroded under allegations that he has covered up medical issues in the jails and cut staff to dangerous levels in the prisons.

Randy McLellan, an officer at Mat-Su pretrial jail, call the situation “a powder keg with a fuse in it.”

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