Corrections officers file ethics complaint against RIDOC director over travel. What to know.

PROVIDENCE – The state's correctional officers union has ramped up its opposition to Gov. Dan McKee’s nomination of Wayne T. Salisbury Jr. as director of the state Department of Corrections, now filing a complaint with the Ethics Commission against Salisbury.

In recent weeks, the Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers has unleashed vigorous objections to Salisbury’s selection, and on Monday filed the complaint with the Ethics Commission.

Salisbury has served as interim corrections director since early last year. He is scheduled to go before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Tuesday ahead of a full Senate confirmation vote.

More: The fight to keep Wayne Salisbury from leading RIDOC just turned nasty. Here's how.

What is behind the complaint?

The union, as first reported by WPRI-TV, is faulting Salisbury for spending time out of state since January 2023, travel that Salisbury did not disclose on his Ethics Commission filing until June 5.

The trips included visiting the British Consulate in London with corrections officials from Massachusetts and Connecticut; a correctional leaders association meeting in Washington, D.C. and new directors training in California.

The travel costs, which were initially paid by external entities, ranged from $633 to $2,349, with $4,328 reimbursed by Salisbury, according to the filing.

'He's flying all over the world'

“Wayne Salisbury doesn’t have the character, judgment or integrity to lead the state corrections department. While our correctional officers are getting forced into overtime because of understaffing and working nonstop to keep drugs out of prisons, break up fights and address gang activity, which has all increased under Wayne Salisbury’s interim leadership, he’s flying to all corners of the world,” Richard Ferruccio, president of RIBCO, said in an email.

“Governor McKee has made a poor choice by nominating Wayne Salisbury for the permanent director position and it’s clear he’s done no work to properly vet his nominee. The Senate Judiciary Committee must ensure that Salisbury answers questions about his troubled past with the law, about his failed leadership at the Wyatt and about his lax ethics,” Ferruccio continued.

The union urged the commission to thoroughly investigate Salisbury’s failure to disclose the travel and “take appropriate action to address this misconduct.”

In a separate complaint, the union noted that Salisbury's step daughter began working in 2021 for parole and probation, a position that falls under his direct supervision. Salisbury was not interim corrections director at the time of her hiring.

`Unclear trips had to be disclosed'

J.R. Ventura, corrections spokesman, said that it was unclear initially that the trips needed to be disclosed.

"Given that trips were reimbursed directly to the State of Rhode Island, it was unclear whether disclosure was required. As a result, notation of the trips was left off the financial disclosure statement. Upon receiving clarification and guidance from the Ethics Commission, the .... amendment has been filed," Ventura said in a statement.

Ventura noted that Salisbury traveled London at the invitation of the British consulate at no cost to cost to taxpayers as it was paid in full by the British consulate. Salisbury is checking with the British consulate to get the cost of that trip and will update the ethics filing accordingly, he said.

Ventura emphasized, too, that Salisbury's travel amounted to the interim director spending a total of 37 work days out of the office over the 16 months.

"It is in Rhode Island’s best interest for RIDOC’s leadership to maintain the department’s ongoing presence at these conferences and trainings with fellow directors and commissioners from around the country to understand, discuss and bring best practices to the Rhode Island Department of Corrections," Ventura continued.

Ventura said Salisbury was able to advocate in person for funding for initiatives, such as modernizing its vehicle fleet and enhancing the programs offered through its Correctional Industries. Additionally, the department is pursuing national accreditation through the American Correctional Association, with over 600 standards that embody best practices, he said.

Salisbury's tenure at Wyatt

Prior to his time at state corrections, Salisbury worked as warden of the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls from 2004 to 2010 during a fraught tenure that was marked by an immigrant detainee's death of undiagnosed and untreated cancer.

He rose to the rank of warden. He was fired as warden in 2007 but rehired later that year under new management before being fired again in February 2009.

In April 2015, the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office dismissed a charge against Salisbury alleging that he had obtained money under false pretenses by falsifying the amount of unused vacation time he was owed at Wyatt and collecting more than $16,456 from the jail. Prosecutors dismissed the single felony count in "the interest of justice," a filing said.

In December 2012, a federal judge approved a multimillion-dollar settlement on behalf of the family of Hiu Lui "Jason" Ng, a 34-year-old Chinese detainee who died in 2008 while in the custody of immigration officials at Wyatt, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island.

Ventura emphasized that the case was settled with no assignment of guilt or fault to any party.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island corrections officers file ethics complaint against Wayne Salisbury