(AP) — State correctional officers are being put at risk because of critical staffing shortages in state prisons, the interim director of the Kansas Association of State Employees told a legislative committee. The wage issue is particularly noticeable in Lansing, where the state prison is just a few miles away from a federal prison, where the minimum starting pay is more than $39,000 a year and can be as high as $51,702, depending on experience. Department of Corrections spokesman Jeremy Barclay confirmed that job vacancy rates in the state prison system range from 10 to 15 percent at each facility. Sen.