RICHMOND Va. (WRIC) -- Twenty-one percent of full-time jobs with the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) are open. Through public records requests, 8News has uncovered that there are 13,051 jobs throughout the department. 2,752 of those are vacant. For comparison, the Department of Transp ortation employs around 8,000. Only 126 vacancies are listed online -- a less than 2% vacancy compared to the VADOC's 21%. “We no longer have the ability to keep our staff safe," Jacob Murray told 8News in January after he resigned as a corrections officers a few months earlier. "We no longer have the ability to manage and run the facility effectively,"    Job openings within the department include corrections officers, nurses and mental health specialists.   Internal emails show chief deputy director Jermiah Fitz suggesting ending roles for part-time employees used to support temporary or fluctuating operational needs.   Fitz suggested making the move in February, “far enough after the holidays that it would not have a negative impact on the agency’s image.”   Internal emails from VADOC's chief deputy director. A VADOC spokesperson called 11 wage job cuts between December of 2025 and March of 2026 “separations,” not layoffs.    State Senator Mike Jones worries about the department finding employees who actually want to be there.    “We need to ensure that we have quality trained staff, that we have individuals in there that are committed to this particular work, and that when we have these type of vacancies, you risk burning individuals out, that they’re working, you know, more overtime that’s potentially costing us," he said.    The other costs of shortages have surfaced in a lawsuit from the wife of former corrections officer Jeremy Hall. Officials say he killed by an inmate at River North Correctional Facility in November of 2025. The complaint filed in the lawsuit alleged that River North’s staffing was below minimum levels on the day of the deadly attack on Hall. Just months before his death, another former River North officer, Jacob Murray, resigned. After 12 years with the VADOC, he cited his fears that staff safety was not prioritized in his resignation letter.    Senator Jones' work has led him to tour the Commonwealth’s prisons to ensure conditions are safe for both inmates and officers.  “That’s a part of your job- to go home at the end of your shift," he said. He believes additional work on the front end could prevent people from getting incarcerated in the first place. “Are we fully funding schools at the state and local level? Are we giving individuals every opportunity to succeed," he said. If state lawmakers pass the currently proposed budget, the VADOC is slated to have its biggest budget ever -- $1,652,130,213.  Governor Abigail Spanberger has to sign the state’s budget by July 1.  ...read more read less