For more than a decade, correctional leaders throughout the country have attempted to come to grips with the basic issues involved in ascertaining and meeting the needs of correctional institutions. This study investigated job satisfaction in 122 correctional officers employed in both rural and urban prison locations for the State of Kansas Department of Corrections. The independent variables examined were: age, gender, salary, level of formal education, marital status, race, years employed as a correctional officer, designated rank, location of prison, relationship with co-workers, freedom from stress, and relationship with supervisors. The dependent variables were: the work itself, working conditions, freedom from stress, co-workers, supervision, top leadership, pay, benefits, job security, promotional opportunities, feedback and communications, organizational planning, and support for innovation. Four null composite hypotheses were tested employing a three-way analysis of variance. A total of 339 comparisons were made. Of these comparisons, 156 were main effects and 183 were interactions. Results included support for the following generalizations: correctional officers with 5 years or less employment and more than 10 years reported greater job satisfaction with pay than correctional officers with 6 to 10 years of employment; correctional officers from rural prison locations reported greater job satisfaction with pay and benefits; and correctional officers with high satisfaction for relationship with supervisors reported the highest job satisfaction with the work itself, for freedom from stress, and for top leadership. (Author/LLL)