A union spokesman says state officials have withdrawn firing notices for two guards who were transporting inmates across New Mexico last month when two escaped.
Miles Conway, a spokesman for the union, said Department of Corrections officials recently rescinded the notices sent several weeks ago.
A corrections spokeswoman at the time said that an independent analysis of the escape suggested the officers failed to follow security protocols. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Conway says state officials could still fire the guards, who have been on leave since the March 9 escape of Joseph Cruz and Lionel Clah, both violent felons.
Authorities say the men fled the back of a prison van at a rural gas station. They were apprehended days later in Albuquerque.
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