PRINCESS ANNE, Md. — Eastern Shore lawmakers are urging Gov. Wes Moore to intervene immediately at Eastern Correctional Institution, warning that a staffing shortage at the Somerset County prison has reached a crisis point.
In a July 28 letter, the Eastern Shore delegation asked Moore to stop nonemergency inmate movements and activities, or establish a safer balance, until adequate staffing is restored. The letter, signed by delegation Chair Christopher T. Adams, follows a July 17 appeal from Somerset County commissioners and a packed July 23 public meeting where current and former prison workers described increasingly dangerous conditions.
“We are extremely concerned that the current staffing crisis threatens the safety of ECI personnel, the inmate population, and Somerset County and the surrounding area,” the lawmakers wrote…