WDOC Wyoming Department of Corrections (Cody, Rawlins: for sale, wages, rental)

[jm060048]

I am going to the correction acadamy shortly and I was just wondering if any one could tell me how correctional life is as an officer?(Rawlins State Pin)

[WyoMama]

Don't know about Rawlins but my niece is a guard in Lusk & she enjoys it pretty much. Is good paying job for Wyo & good bennies. I wouldn't want to LIVE in either place at ALL but at least Lusk is only an hour from the Black Hills....She's been with them for about 6-7 years now.

[ElkHunter]

Although I've never been through the academy, I worked for law enforcement as a civilian controller. I was told by all the officers that the school was outstanding. We'd have new folks start and work until they could get a billet at the acadamey and you would notice a valuable difference in these folks when they came back.

As for Rawlins, hopefully somebody will chime in on the area. I used to live down in Hanna and didn't like the area, but Hanna tends to be a little more harsh then Rawlins. Used to do our grocery shopping in Rawlins and I saw nothing wrong with it. Folks were friendly, neighborly, never had any problems there.

[WyoMama]

My only real issue with Rawlins is that it is so desolate & far from mountains (I've lived up against the mountains in Colo. & then Wyo for the last 40 years. Can't IMAGINE having to drive more than 20 minutes to see the lights disappear behind me. LOL!!!

[ElkHunter]

Don't worry. From Rawlins, if you go 20 minutes, you won't see nothing. haha

Well, dependant on direction. If you go east, you'll see sinclair.

[wyoman]

Originally Posted by jm060048

I am going to the correction acadamy shortly and I was just wondering if any one could tell me how correctional life is as an officer?(Rawlins State Pin)

I lived in rawlins for about a year as a young man. Was on a city leauge basketball team that went into pen to play their team. This was in the old pen and not a nice place-dark and dinghy. Dont know much about new pen, has to be better than the old one. Also worked with wife of a long time gaurd at the pen he didnt complain about the job so must be ok! Have heard it is now understaffed so be carefull-this could lead to bad situations. GOOD LUCK

[WyoMama]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

Don't worry. From Rawlins, if you go 20 minutes, you won't see nothing. haha

Well, dependant on direction. If you go east, you'll see sinclair.

TRUE THAT!!!!!! LOL!!!!

The "new" prison is MUCH more open with a lot of open space within the walls. I know the women's prison job is a lot different than the men's just by nature (they don't have much maturnity duty there...). My niece had to go to Rawlins for 3 months for training, never had to go to the academy. Women can be more volatile sometimes but don't generally scheme as much as men I don't think. She was on maternity duty for about a year & was disgusted by how many preg women would violate parole to get back in the system to have her baby & then get him/her back when she was released again after parents or whomever had been caring for the baby.

Are you going to the Wyo Police Academy in Douglas? Maybe going there will be part of your training....I think you'll be OK there if you are interested in that sort of job. - Some great country to explore not that far away from Rawlins...

[sixofone]

Originally Posted by jm060048

I am going to the correction acadamy shortly and I was just wondering if any one could tell me how correctional life is as an officer?(Rawlins State Pin)

First the good news-- your fellow corrections officers are a truly outstanding group, and the wages, while not as high as extractive industry pay, are pretty good by Wyoming standards. Additionally, since Rawlins is under-staffed, you can usually work as much OT as you want.

Now the not so good. Working near convicted felons is stressful and dangerous and requires a level of discipline not found in other jobs. Thus there tends to be a lot of employee turn-over, especially in the first year. Also, not everyone enjoys living in Rawlins, and the last I heard, housing, especially rentals, was pretty scarce.

Anyway, welcome to big, wonderful Wyoming and best of luck in your new career.

[jm060048]

thank you every one for the advice

[WyoMama]

jm060058, be prepared to have to live in a camper or something like that until you are able to find actual housing. When I moved to Cody 20 years ago (no boom, nothing special) but we had to live in my truck camper shell WITH a lab for 5 nights until a person I worked for found out & had an EXPENSIVE apt that was open for the time being so we spent 1 month there until I found a house for sale. We moved 5 times in our first 18 months here because most of what was rentable were on the market & you'd have 24-48 hours to move out. Quite stresful! And unfortunately, that is a Wyo law - when you are living on a month-to-month basis in a home of any sort, i.e. - no lease, you can be told to leave in 24 hours. Is tricky....but welcome - and I hope the job at the prison works out for you!! The housing situation isn't any or much better in Lusk, but might be a little better so could consider the Women's prison if Rawlins just doesn't work out.