The chairman of the committee, Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Frankford, said he was surprised that it took that long to acknowledge there were problems.

“This is costing the taxpayers millions of dollars,” Hansen said. “Somebody has had their head in the sand on some of these issues.”

Dormire blamed the culture of working in a prison and the rapid growth in the agency for the majority of the problems.

“Correction officer is a tough job. They come in with no experience. They come into an environment where offenders are anti-law enforcement,” Dormire said.

Rep. Bruce Franks, D-St. Louis, said the agency needs to be overhauled.

“It’s time that we make some changes because this is highly unacceptable,” Franks said.

The focus on the department comes in response to a report in Pitch.com that outlined how the state has paid millions of dollars in damages to female guards who alleged they were harassed at work and retaliated against for speaking out.